Eren's Moving Castle
by Kawaiibootybutt
Summary: Levi's life has never been all that great, but all of that changes when he meets a mysterious man who happens to be the infamous Eren; the wizard with a moving castle. That and a witches jealously will change his life forever. RATING MAY CHANGE Based off of the movie Howl's moving Castle. Also on Wattpad
1. Chapter 1

Levi Ackerman stared blankly out the window as a train made its way by, causing black smoke to cover the entire window.

He sighed.

This had been the fifth time today a train had passed, forcing him to stop his work and wait for the houses shaking to stop.

Once said shaking had subsided, he went back to work sewing up some poor girls ripped dress his uncle had given him to fix. Normally he would have been done with a dress like this in record timing, but those accursed trains just couldn't seem to stop interrupting his work.

He heard a soft knock on his door and quickly worked to finish sewing up the last tear in the dress, fearing that Kenny had returned to reclaim the dress. His uncle was definitely not the nicest person and the small raven feared that he would lash out if the dress wasn't finished.

He gave a small, "Come in", and turned to look at the door.

He sighed in relief to see that it was only Farlen.

"I just wanted to let you know that we're closing up. If you want, I can wait for you and you can stay at my place tonight."

Levi gave a small smile as he pushed some stray strands of hair out of his face, and turned back to the dress.

"No, it's fine. Maybe some other time. I just have to finish this up real quick then I'll lock up."

The blonde boy gave a small shrug and turned to leave.

"Suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."

Before Levi could reply, he was cut off by some squealing.

"Look! It's Eren's castle!"

A few of the remaining girls that were there ran up to the window to get a look at the infamous Eren's moving castle.

Levi let himself look to the window to see what little of the walking castle that wasn't covered with fog. It was so far away that Levi was surprised the girls had even noticed it.

"Aw, he's gone…", one of the girls said sadly.

"No," replied Farlen. "He's just hiding in the fog from those planes; see?"

Levi looked back outside and saw the set of planes that had just flown over head take off into the distance.

One of the girls giggled and said, "Hey, you know that girl Rico from the Northern district? They say Eren _tore_ her heart out!"

"Wah! Now I'm scared to go outside!"

"Don't worry," said the girl who had previously just tried to scare her friend. "Eren only preys on _attractive_ people!"

The girls laughed as Farlen ushered all of them outside, and Levi sighed. He was just ready for some peace and quiet.

Once he heard the door close he began to finish up the last bit of the dress that needed fixing, seeing as how he had previously rushed on it and it didn't turn out quite as he had hoped.

Just as he finished, another train rolled by and the whole shop began to shake again.

The raven groaned and stood up to leave, gathering up the dress and folding it neatly. He grabbed his bag and carefully put the dress in.

Once he was all packed up he grabbed his cravat and expertly tied it around his neck, just as he had done every day since his mother had given it to him.

The raven brushed off his shirt and grabbed his bag, ready to leave.

He made sure to lock the front door in case anyone decided to try and break in while he was gone.

For as long as it had been his, which had been quite a while now, Levi had taken extra good care of his late mother's clothing store to the best of his abilities. This little shop had been his mother's pride and joy up until the day she died and Levi was going to make sure that it stayed in excellent condition.

The raven haired male made his way downtown, past all of the other busy shops and stands with people trying to get you to buy their items.

Levi ignored anyone who tried to sell him anything and made his way down a familiar alleyway; a shortcut to where he was headed.

Before he could continue he accidently bumped into a man's chest that seemed to just pop up out of nowhere.

"Excuse me…", he said, not too interested in getting into a full on conversation with this guy.

Before he could simply walk off, the man stepped in front of him, successfully blocking his way.

Levi gave the man a look over, only to find that he was a tall, muscular blonde with a soldier uniform on.

He assumed that this man was one of the king's soldiers that had been sent out on official business, but at the moment the blonde didn't seem too eager to complete whatever task he had.

He instead seemed content just staring down at Levi with a smirk.

"Hey," the soldier started. "Looks like a little kitty lost its way…"

Levi shivered with disgust at how hard this guy was trying to flirt with him, and said, "No, I'm not lost…"

His smirk only grew as he shifted, allowing Levi to see the other dark haired soldier standing behind him.

"Looks like this little kitty is thirsty. Maybe we should take him for a cup of tea…"

Levi took one step back, and said in a warning tone, "My sister's expecting me. I have to go…"

It wasn't technically a lie. Isabel was the closest thing to a sister he had, and he had promised her that he would come to visit when he got a chance.

The soldiers seemed to ignore him as the raven one crouched down to his eyelevel and said, "He's pretty cute for a cat."

"How old are you anyway? You live around here?", the blonde one persisted.

Levi grew angry and took a step back.

"Leave me alone."

The blonde male chuckled.

"You see, Nile. I told you that your 'stache and beard scares all the cuties."

'Nile' chuckled and said, "Whatever, Erwin. Besides, I think he's even cuter when he's scared."

A new voice from behind him almost made Levi jump right out of his skin.

"Oh, there you are, sweet heart. Sorry I'm late."

An arm wrapping around his shoulder made him gasp as this mystery man kept talking.

"I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Hey, hey!", said 'Erwin'. "We're busy here."

"Oh really?"

Levi shivered at how silky and deep this man's voice was. It made him feel relaxed and dare he say it… safe…

"It looks to me like the two of you were just leaving."

Levi felt the hand on his shoulder move around, but he barely noticed it as the two soldiers unnaturally stood up straighter and walk away, seemingly against their will.

"Don't hold it against them.", the stranger spoke. "They're not all that bad."

Levi finally turned and looked up to the man that had just saved him, only to gasp in shock at how attractive this man was.

The man was obviously taller than him, but then again most people Levi met were. The man's near shoulder length hair was a dark chocolate -almost black- color and a few strands fell into his face, giving him a mysterious look.

But the thing that captured Levi's attention the most was this man's eyes. They were a bright jade color with little flecks of gold in them and Levi was mesmerized. He had never seen eyes this bright.

Well, now that he thought about it, they almost looked like Isabel's eyes. He then remembered the whole reason for this outing and sighed. He honestly just wanted to go back home and go to sleep but was not about to let Isabel down.

Levi was snapped out of his daze when the man spoke once more.

"So, where to? I'll be your escort this evening." *

"Oh, um, I was just heading to the bakery."

The man suddenly leaned in close and whispered, "Don't be alarmed but I'm being followed. Act natural."

With that, he began to walk off, looping his arm with Levi's.

As they walked, Levi began to feel uneasy. Why would this man have somebody following him? What had Levi gotten himself into.

The raven looked back when he thought he heard something, and gasped at the sight.

A black ooze-like creature had suddenly come from the wall, many more following afterwards.

Before he could react, the man he had been walking with gently grabbed his chin and made him look forward, as if there wasn't anything behind them.

The man picked up their walking pace a bit as Levi heard the creatures behind them begin to make inhuman sounds.

"Sorry, looks like you're involved…", the man said in a tone that didn't sound too apologetic.

Levi gasped once more and held onto the man's shirt as more of these creature formed in front of them instead of behind.

The raven knew that they were surrounded and thought it would be the end of the road for the both of them until the man suddenly turned the corner saying, "This way."

Levi felt the man put a gentle hand on his hip as he lead him forward at a much faster pace now that all of the creatures were still following them from behind.

The shorter male nearly sopped all together when he saw more of the creatures form a little way in front of them, and he was certain that they had nowhere to turn now.

The mystery man was going so fast at this point that Levi had trouble keeping up.

The man suddenly said, "Hold on.", and linked his arm firmly around Levi's waist. Just as Levi thought they were about to run straight into the black creatures, the man jumped and were no longer on the ground.

Levi looked down to see the creatures run into each other, and then turned his head up to see that he and the mystery man were now… flying.

They went higher and higher until Levi could see the bakery from where they were, which was quite a distance.

Levi held on to the man for dear life as they floated across the sky, afraid that if he let go he would plummet to the earth.

"Now," the man said in a gentle tone. "Straighten your legs and start walking."

He took Levi's small hands into his own larger ones as Levi slowly did as he was told, still not too keen on being this high up so suddenly.

Before the raven knew it they were both literally walking on thin air over the town. Levi began to smile at how amazing it was to be able to see over nearly the entire town and laughed happily at the new ability this man had given him.

"See? Not so hard is it?", the man said, and Levi could hear the pure joy in his voice.

They both kept walking, Levi never getting tired of the feeling of flight, and the man turned to him saying, "You are a natural.", with a huge grin.

Levi smiled wide at this, something he felt like he hadn't done in a long time, and continued to walk with the magical mystery man.

The raven looked down at all the hustling and bustling people in the town as they went on about their day, and laughed to himself at the feeling of finally not having to look up at people.

The continued their flight until the man landed them both safely on the bakery's third story balcony.

The man stood on the ledge of the balcony, still hand-in-hand with Levi, and gently said, "I'll make sure to draw them off, but wait a bit before going back outside."

Levi released the man's hand with a small, "Okay.", still too amazed for words.

The man grinned wide and stood up straight.

"That's my boy."

He then jumped off of the balcony, and Levi gasped, afraid that the man had actually hurt himself.

He quickly leaned over the balcony to check if the man was okay, but was shocked to find that he was not there. There was only the hundreds of towns people still going on about their day.

Levi wondered how the man just disappeared like that, but decided not to question it. If the man had the ability to fly, then he was pretty sure that he could disappear too.

Levi slowly backed into the bakery, the events of the day being too much for him to handle. He also had a million questions running through his mind.

What were those ooze-creatures and why were they chasing them? How was that man able to fly and disappear? And most importantly, who _was_ that magical mystery man?

Before he could ponder on it for too long, a pair of footsteps running towards him cut off his train of thought. He turned to see a pair of red pigtails bouncing up and down as their owner ran towards him.

He turned around fully and smiled when the girl stopped right in from of him.

"Levi!?"

"Hey, Izzy."

 _-End of Chapter One-_

*So, I accidentally turned on caps lock when typing this, and I laughed at the thought of Eren just speaking so smoothly and calmly and then just suddenly shouting, "I'LL BE YOUR ESCORT!"

A/N: Hello hello! Before I continue let me just clarify, yes I made Levi Sophie and Eren Howl. BUT I HAVE MY REASONS! Look-wise I would have made Eren Sophie, but I decided that because of some things that happen in the story and because of some things that are said it would be better to make Levi Sophie. You'll see as the story goes on.

Now then, I got this idea after rewatching Howl's Moving Castle the other day and I was like, why not? Everything's about the same except for a few things.

Also, if you think Levi's ooc, I have a reason so just wait.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I can't wait to write the rest :)

P.S: Eren has his titan-form hair-style and Levi doesn't have and undercut. For now…


	2. Chapter 2

"Levi, what's going on!? Someone just told me that you floated down onto our balcony!?"

Isabel was practically shouting at Levi with worry, her small hands clasping on to Levi's slightly bigger one.

Levi looked at her like she had sprouted another head and said, "So it really did happen? It wasn't a dream?"

One of Isabel's associates, some guy Levi hadn't bothered to learn the name of, poked his head out from the room he had been in and said softly, "Ms. Magnolia, would you like to use my office?"

Isabel gave him a warm smile.

"I should really get back to work. Thank you though!"

She waved at him politely as he stepped back into his office.

Isabel looked back to the slightly taller raven and said firmly, "You're coming with me!" She grabbed his arm and led him to the room where they kept extra stacks of flour and other spare ingredients in case they ran out.

She sat down on one of the boxes, patting the one next to it to get Levi to sit down.

The raven rolled his eyes, but sat down anyway.

"Now then, tell me what happened."

Levi recounted the whole story, starting with him leaving the clothing store to when he landed on the bakery's balcony.

Isabel sighed when Levi finished his story.

"He must have been a wizard then…"

"But he was so kind to me," Levi said. "He _rescued_ me, Izzy…"

Isabel rolled her eyes and said, "Of course he did! He was trying to steal your heart!"

She took a shaking breath before continuing.

"You are so lucky, big bro. If that wizard were Eren he would have _eaten_ it!"

Levi didn't meet her eye as he said, "No he wouldn't have… Eren only does that to _attractive_ people…"

Isabel jumped up from her seat and shouted, "Levi Ackerman, don't dare you give me that! Kenny has been telling you that crap again, hasn't he!?"

Levi groaned.

"Izzy, it's no big deal. Besides, after a while you just learn to accept it…"

"It _is_ a big deal, and there is nothing to accept because it's not true and that's that!"

The red-head plopped back down onto the crate with a 'Hmph', and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

The duo sat in silence until Levi said, "Is Kenny here?"

"Why?"

"I fixed a dress for him and-"

Isabel gave a frustrated groan before saying, "How many times have I told you that you don't have to help that sleaze- ball and his sluts!?"

"Isabel!"

"What!? It's true! Kenny is just using you to make himself a quick buck by selling off those girls and you _know it_! You have your mother's shop; you can make your _own_ money. You don't need his dirty money…"

There was a long silence before Levi's low, quiet voice rang out.

"He's the only family I got left…"

Isabel gave him a sad glance and said, "No he's not… You got me."

Another deathly silence fell over them, and Isabel decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, you need to be more careful; it's _dangerous_ out there. Even the Witch of the Waste is back on the prowl…"

Levi kept staring straight ahead, not giving her so much as a glance. She turned her body until she was leaning in front of him.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?"

She gave an exasperated groan and said, "Whatever, just be careful, okay?"

Levi gave small smile and nodded, ruffling Isabel's hair.

They both stood up and Levi made his way to leave the room.

"Well, if Kenny does end up stopping by here for some food, then tell him I came to give him the dress but he wasn't here. He can just drop by tomorrow."

Isabel gave a simple nod, not wanting to start anything back up, and left the room with Levi.

Once the two were on the first floor, Isabel walked with Levi to the exit, and before he could leave she turned him around and took both of his hands in hers.

"Big bro, do you really want to spend your whole life working for that jerk, all cooped up in that store?"

Levi gave a warm smile, and said, "Isabel, I'm fine. Besides, that shop was just so important to Mom that I can't just leave it. I really don't mind."

Isabel squeezed his hands tighter.

"I'm not asking what your mom would have wanted. I'm asking what _you_ want."

"Well…"

Levi seemed to seriously give this some thought. What _did_ he want? His whole life he had been doing what his dear mother and uncle had wanted. He had never really thought about what he wanted.

Just as he was about to answer when a man walked out of the bakery and said, "See you later, Ms. Magnolia!"

Isabel turned and gave the man a wave.

"Good seeing you!"

Levi sighed and turned to leave.

"I better get going..."

Isabel called out after him.

"It's your life, Levi! Start thinking about yourself for once, will you?"

Levi chuckled and said, "By Izzy."

He began his walk back to the shop and considered just going to Kenny's place to give him the dress, but he immediately decided against it.

Kenny always told Levi to never come to his house, under any circumstance.

It would have hurt his feelings, but Levi liked to think that his uncle was just doing it so some random 'John' wouldn't confuse him for a worker and pounce on him.

Before Levi knew it he had gotten on the train he had meant to take on the way up there, and road an uneventful ride back to his shop/house.

He got there just as the last bit of sunlight left the horizon so the moon and stars could show themselves.

He made his way inside, making sure to lock the door back once he was in.

The shop was empty, just as he had expected. The raven took a look around and sighed, ready to plop face-first into the bed after the eventful day he had just had.

He lit a candle that sat on the front desk, not wanting to turn on the lights, and sat his bag on the floor next to the desk.

The familiar sound of the front door's bell ringing made him jump.

He looked to the front of the store to find that a young woman had entered. Her jet-black short hair and pale skin contrasted drastically with the blood-red scarf that hung loosely around her neck. She was dressed in a sleek black dress that complimented her figure nicely.

But what struck Levi the most about her was the wide brimmed black hat that covered her face just enough so he couldn't see her eyes.

She had strutted inside as if she owned the place, so Levi was quick to try and get her to leave.

"I'm sorry, but the shop's closed now, Ma'am. I could've sworn I locked that door… Must've forgotten."

He was _positive_ that he had locked that door…

The woman completely ignored him as she walked further into the shop, her hat moving just enough for Levi to see he coal- black eyes.

"What a tacky shop… I've never seen such tacky clothes…", she said with distaste.

She looked at Levi with a smirk and said, "But you're by far the _tackiest_ thing in here…"

Levi glared at her, but remained calm as he said, "I'm afraid you'll have to leave, _Ma'am_ …"

He made his way to the front door and opened it, expecting the woman to leave.

"The door is over here, Ma'am. We're _closed_."

The woman's smirk only grew as she sneered, "Standing up to the Witch of the Waste, are you? How _brave_."

Levi gasped.

"The _Witch of the Waste!?"_

Before the shorter raven could move, two figures stepped into the shop. Levi turned to face them, only to find that they were the black ooze creature's from before.

He gasped in horror and began to back up.

When he turned back to the woman she was flying towards him so fast that he didn't have enough time to move out of the way.

When Levi thought she was going to fly straight into him and knock him over, she phased right through him. As she did this, he got a cold chill that ran all the way through his body.

It felt like a ghost had just passed through him.

The witch smirked at him from her place at the door and said, "The best thing about this spell is that you can't tell anyone about it. Give my regards to Eren…"

Just like that the door slammed shut and she left with a laugh.

Levi slowly uncurled himself from the tight ball he had himself hunched over in, only to find that he couldn't do it as quickly as he had hoped.

He slowly looked around the shop to find that he was not alone, but he gasped when he caught a glimpse of his hands.

They were no longer as smooth as they had once been, but now calloused and a bit wrinkly.

His eyes widened and enormous amount as he looked back and forth between each of his hands, as if they would magically turn back to the way they had once been.

He raised his new hands to touch his face, only to find that it no longer felt as it had before.

He slowly made his way over to a mirror, afraid of what he might see. Once his reflection came into vision on the mirror, he gasped.

His hair was no longer the dark raven color it had once been, but now a mixture of light grey and a few streaks of white. His hairstyle was no longer the same either, now styled into an undercut that tickled his ears when his head turned.

His eyebrows matched his hair and he had a few wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes.

Speaking of his eyes, the once strong, vibrant dark blue they had once been were now dimmed into a now blueish grey.

His body was about the same, except for the fact that what little muscle he had was gone and he was as skinny as a stick.

And finally, whatever hope he had of getting taller was crushed as he realized that he was a few inches shorter, barely hitting the five- foot mark.

His hands reached up to touch his face once more, as if doing so would turn himself back to normal, and Levi did the only thing he knew to do.

He screamed.

 _-End of Chapter Two-_


	3. Chapter 3

The sun shined bright as the people of the town hustled and bustled with the rush that came with the morning. People moved out of the way as an old-fashioned car made its way through the busy streets.

The car came to a stop in front of a tiny shop connected to a long line of other shops. A tall, middle-aged man stepped out, tipping his hat so the sun wouldn't get in his eyes.

He made his way into the shop and once the door opened and everyone recognized who it was, there was a cacophony of gasps and a few surprised, "Mr. Ackerman?"

Kenny stood there silently, waiting for someone specifically to come and give him what he needs.

Farlen was the first to break out of his trance and made his way over to Kenny.

Kenny smirked; not exactly who he wanted to see, but close enough.

"Ah, Mr. Ackerman. I take it that you're here to see Levi?"

Kenny nodded and looked around. His nephew wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Yeah, were is the pipsqueak anyway?"

Farlen struggled not to glare at his boss, and said, "I'm sorry sir, but Levi hasn't come downstairs today."

Kenny walked over and looked into Levi's small work station.

It was empty.

"What is he sick or somethin'?"

All of the workers simply shrugged and Kenny sighed.

He walked up stairs, but not before saying, "Oh, and don't think about eavesdropping. Get back to work."

They all immediately did as they were told, and Kenny made his way up the stairs.

He knocked on the door and said, "Levi?"

"D-Don't come in!"

Kenny cocked an eyebrow.

"Why, are you naked or something?"

"N-No! I've… got a bad cold! I don't want you to catch it."

Kenny's face scrunched up.

"You sound terrible. Like some ninety-year-old man…"

Levi did his best to suppress a groan, and said, "I'll just stay in bed and sleep it off; that dress you wanted is downstairs in my workspace."

Kenny rolled his eyes and muttered, "If you insist. Be back to work by tomorrow."

Levi waited until he heard the front door downstairs shut loudly until he got up. The Witch of the Waste had said something about the wizard Eren, so seeing as how he was low on options he decided to try and track him down for help.

He quickly wrote a note for Farlen, knowing that he would eventually be up to check on him, and grabbed a hat and his satchel.

The former raven looked to the cravat that lay on his vanity mirror, and decided to put that on as well.

He finally gave himself a look over in the mirror and gave a small smile.

"See, you don't look so bad… You've aged pretty well and the undercut is a nice touch…"

As soon as he was ready, Levi made his way out of his room, and quietly snuck out the back door to the shop. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, knowing that they would freak out.

He was aiming to move quickly in hopes that his trip wouldn't be terribly long, but he soon discovered that being old slowed you down.

Levi walked over to a nearby bakery and bought some food incase his trip ended up lasting longer than anticipated.

Once he was out of the bakery he rounded the corner and pondered if he should just take a train. He quickly decided against that, knowing that no train around this area went even close to the wastelands where Eren's castle lies.

As he walked, he heard talk of a war that could come up soon, but he dismissed these ideas. He didn't need anything else to worry about at the moment.

With one more look back in the direction his late mother's shop was, Levi was off to find Eren's castle.

 _-Line Break-_

After hours of traveling by foot and hitchhiking with a few people that told him it was crazy for a little old man like him to be traveling to the wastelands by himself, Levi decided that it was a good time to rest his legs and eat.

He made himself a sandwich with the cheese and bread he had bought from the bakery, and looked around at the scenery.

The older man sighed, the ache in his legs from walking still apparent.

"I'll never make it with these old legs…"

He looked around once more until he saw it, a long branch poking out of some bushes that would make an excellent cane.

He slowly stood up from his resting spot and made his way over to the stick. He gave it a few tentative tugs before putting all of his strength into pulling the branch free from the bushes.

It took a couple of tries, but he eventually got the 'branch' out. Once the stick was free, he could see why it took him so long to get it out.

It was… a scarecrow…

Half of its body, and parts of its face, had been ripped off, yet the scarecrow stood tall all by itself.

Levi stared at the thing for a few minutes, watching it as it magically stood by itself, before huffing.

"I thought I could use you as a cane…"

The old man stared at the ever-smiling scarecrow for a few more seconds, studying it, before saying, "Your head's a turnip… I've always hated turnips, ever since I was little…"

Levi tried to stay made at the magical scarecrow for not being a cane for as long as he could, before sighing.

"Whatever, at least you're not upside down now… So long."

Levi went back over to his resting place and gathered his things. He put the rest of his food in his satchel and placed his hat atop his head once more.

He began his walk again, until he looked back and noticed that the scarecrow was hopping up the hill to follow him.

"G-Go away! There's no need to thank me, you don't owe me a thing! I'm sure you have some kind of spell on you and I've had more than enough of witches and spells."

Nevertheless the scarecrow kept hoping towards Levi as if he didn't hear a thing the former raven was saying.

Levi kept walking but the scarecrow caught up to him, a stick hanging from his long, outstretched arm.

Levi looked at him, waiting for him to do something, and the scarecrow dropped the stick.

The short male studied the stick before realizing that it was a cane. He took it and smile.

"Thank you, this cane is perfect. It's just what I need. If you would do me a favor, could you run off and find me a place to stay?"

The scarecrow happily hopped off, doing as Levi had asked, and Levi chuckled.

"I seem to have become cunning in my old age."

With that, Levi continued walking.

- _Line Break-_

After about another hour of walking Levi saw a plane flying overhead.

"A battleship?"

He suddenly huddled over as the wind from the passing over ship hit him.

"Ugh, why is it so cold here!?"

He slowly continued walking before he smelled the smoke from a fire.

"Someone's got a fire going… Maybe there's a cabin nearby."

He walked with new-found enthusiasm, hoping that the cabin was close and would let him stay the night.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the sound of mechanical limbs moving filled his ears.

He was frightened at first, until he saw what it was, Eren's moving 'castle'. The short male stared in awe as the large machine/castle hybrid made its way towards him.

Before he could do anything, the scarecrow from earlier hopped over to him and bounced up and down in excitement.

"Y-You!? This was just the house I was looking for, y-you Turnip-head!"

The words tumbled out of Levi's mouth as he wondered how this scarecrow, which was now named Turnip-head, was able to find what he had been looking for.

The castle walked over him, smoke pouring out of the exhausted pipes, and it stopped, seemingly taking a break.

Levi stared up at the thing in disgust.

"They call this a castle? It looks horrendous…"

The castle suddenly stood back up and began walking again. Levi let out a surprised gasp as it began walking away.

Turnip-head hopped over to what seemed to be an entrance in the back, turned back to Levi.

"I-Is that the way in?"

Without another word, Levi chased after the castle, adrenaline kicking in.

He was eventually able to climb up the three hanging stairs that led to the door, but the wind from the moving machine blew his cravat clean off.

"My cravat!"

Levi turned around quickly, hoping to catch it before it flew away, but he was too late. The wind blew the cloth away, and Turnip-head began to chase after it.

"No, wait!"

Turnip-head ignored him and continued after the cravat until he was out of sight.

Levi sighed, he was alone once more.

He turned back to the door and cautiously opened it. He looked around the inside of the castle before opening the door fully and walking in.

It was quiet inside the castle, despite the machine sounds blaring outside.

He couldn't see the actual inside of the castle yet, so he walked up the few stairs that led to a room that was almost like the inside of the house.

Well, almost…

It was a mess everywhere, like no one had bothered to clean in _years._

Levi groaned at the mess, deciding that he would have to worry about it later, and noticed a fire with a comfy looking chair in front of it.

He gave a shy, "Is anyone here?" before taking a seat in the chair after he got no answer.

The old man gave a tired sigh as he warmed up in front of the fire. It was been a long day and he just wanted to sleep at this point, not even caring if Eren popped up out of nowhere and decided to eat his heart.

Levi began to dose off, the crackle of the fire soothing him.

That is, until he heard a voice.

- _End of Chapter 3-_

A/N: *Scampers out of hiding place* I'm sorry, I have no excuse. *Hands you chapter* *Hurries back to hiding place.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ugh, I don't envy you fella. That is one bad curse."

Levi nearly jumped out of the comfy chair in surprise. He looked around for any sign of another person in the room, but found none. The voice called out again.

"Curses are tough. You're gonna have a hard time getting rid of that one."

Levi returned his attention to the fire burning before him. Did… Did the fire just _speak_ to him!? Once he caught sight of the flames dancing before him, he was able to see that the fire did indeed have a mouth and two eyes.

"Th-The fire spoke!"

On a normal day, Levi would have high-tailed it out of that 'castle' and pretended that this was all just a dream. But this wasn't any normal day, now was it?

"Let me guess, the curse won't allow you to talk about it, right?"

Levi simply stared at the talking flame for a few more seconds before muttering out, "A-Are you Eren?"

The flame gave a scoff of disapproval and grew bigger with each word he spoke.

"No, I'm an extremely powerful fire demon named Jean."

After he said this, the fire demon 'Jean' shrunk back down to his original size and chuckled.

"Sorry, I just like to do that every once and a while."

The short male sitting before Jean gasped as he had a realization.

"A fire demon? Well, then you should be able to break my curse!"

Jean gave his signature smirk again and replied, "Maybe, maybe not."

Levi shrunk down in disappointment at this and Jean sighed.

"Listen, if you can find a way to break the spell that's on me, then I'll break the spell that's on you, got it?"

Levi perked up at this before giving Jean a questioning look.

"If you're a demon, how do I know I can trust you?"

Jean gave a dramatic gasp and Levi simply rolled his eyes.

"You promise to help me if I help you?" Levi replied to Jean's disbelief at his distrust.

"Ehhh, I don't know, fella. Demons don't make promises."

The old man leaned back in the chair and mumbled, "Then go find someone else."

The demon's flames grew bigger in desperation.

"Come on! You should feel sorry for me! That spell keeps me trapped in this castle and Eren treats me like I'm his slave, the asshole. You know, he really burns me up! Gotta keep the water hot, the rooms warm, keep the castle moving-"

"Oh that's rough", Levi said half-heartedly. All of Jean's rambling was causing him to dose off, and his newfound old age wasn't any help.

"You ever try to move a castle?" Jean continued, "If you could figure out how to break this thing I'm in with Eren, then you can break my spell! After that, I can easily break the spell that's on you."

Levi yawned while speaking his next few words. "Alright, it's a deal…."

Before Jean new it, Levi was comfortably asleep in the chair he had been sitting in his entire time in the house.

"Hey, fella? Fella? Hello?"

Levi didn't budge.

"Ah forget it…."

 _-Line Break-_

The next day, thousands of people cheered as huge battleships left dock and started heading out for the war. The usually quiet town was overrun by cheering people and the sounds of the waves crashing against the ships as they headed out.

None of this racket was heard from within the little house Levi had made himself comfortable in. The only sound that could be heard was Levi's faint snoring and the pounding of a fist against the door.

The loud knocking was enough to wake a dazed Levi out of his slumber. The old man looked around in confusion before stretching, cringing at the popping coming from his old bones.

Before he could even think about opening the door, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs was enough to make him go still.

As the person belonging to the footsteps got closer down the stairs, Levi had the bright idea to act as if he was still knocked out cold.

The young man finally made it down the stairs, blonde hair bouncing all the way, and noticed the elderly man sitting in the chair in front of the fireplace.

The blonde walked over to him and muttered, "Hey, who is this man?"

The knocking on the door grew louder, distracting the blonde from Levi, and Jean said, "Maria door."

"How'd he get in here?" The boy asked as he made his way over to the cluttered dining room table. Once at the table, the blonde pulled a cloak from off of it and tied it around his shoulders, the clothe jostling his almost-shoulder length hair.

The boy pulled the hood to the cloak over his head, and once his arms left from over his face, Levi- who had long since opened his eyes and spied on the blonde- saw that he was now sporting the face of a young blonde girl with kind blue eyes.

As the knocking grew louder and more persistent, the boy- well, _girl_ now- casually walked over to the door and said, "Stand by."

Levi could hear that the boys already feminine voice had gone a few octaves higher and sounded mush softer than it originally had.

Once over to the door, the blonde pulled on the knob, causing a circle above the door that Levi at not yet noticed, to go from a green color to a blue color.

The blonde finally opened the door and said, "Mr. Mayor, how are you today?"

The voice that the blonde gave out was now almost too sweet to bare, and almost completely unrecognizable from his previous voice.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Christa. Would the great Witch Ymir be at home?"

'Christa' gave a faint sound of disappointment.

"I'm afraid that my mistress is out at the moment. I can speak to you in her absence."

"An invitation from Her Majesty the Queen. I'm afraid the time of war is upon us, as you may know. Her majesty requires that every witch and wizard aid our homeland. The Witch Ymir must report to the palace immediately. That is all."

"Okay, I'll relay the message. Bye bye!"

As Levi listened in on the ending to the conversation, he couldn't help but wonder who this 'Ymir' was, and if she was so 'great', then how had he never heard of her?

Just as Levi stood up to give Jean some more firewood, seeing as how the poor demon was almost out, 'Christa' made her way from the door and over to him.

Levi was almost surprised when her sweet voice said, "And just what do you think you're doing here, Grandpa?"

Levi looked at the blonde in surprise, and quickly lied with, "Jean said I could come in."

Jean gasped in surprise and said, "I did not! He just wandered in here from the Wastes."

Before Levi could react, the blonde spoke in his normal voice once again, saying, "He's from the Wastes?"

The blonde finally pulled his hood off, causing him to return to his former self, and said, "How do we know he's not a wizard?"

Jean rolled his eyes and retorted with, "Do you really think I'd let some old wizard in here!?"

Before Levi could remark that he was not that old, there was another knocking on the door.

"Maria door again!" Jean called out.

As he began pulling over the hood again, bringing the return of Christa, the blonde murmured, "Must be a customer."

After walking over to the door once more and calling out, "Stand by, "Christa opened the door to reveal a little girl standing nervously on the other side.

"Yes, my dear child?" She asked sweetly.

"M-My daddy sent me to pick up a spell."

"Ah, yes, do come in, "she said with a smile.

The little girl obeyed the older girl's commands and followed her up the stairs leading into the house.

As they passed by Levi and Jean, Christa muttered, "Just keep quiet and don't cause any trouble, Grandpa…."

Levi scoffed at this and noticed that the little girl was now staring at him while Christa searched for the spell.

Ignoring the little girl for the moment, Levi walked over to the window- using his cane- and looked out at the town. A seagull passed over the glittering ocean and Levi realized that them must be in the outer-most part of Maria.

"We're not in the Wastes?"

Before Levi could wrap his head around how they went from the infamous Wastes to the better remembered city of Maria, the little girl called out to him.

"Excuse me, Sir, are you a wizard?"

Levi looked at the girl before getting an idea.

"That's right. I'm the scariest wizard of them all!"

The girl giggled at this right as Christa brought a small baggie over to her.

"Dust your ship with this powder, love, and the winds will blow in your favor."

"Thank you, "the girl said as she took the baggie. "By Mr. Scary Wizard!"

Levi gave the girl a small wave as she skipped out the door with the new potion. Once the door closed, Christa's once sweet expression turned sour as she said, "Quit telling lies to our customers!"

Levi scoffed, putting one hand on his hip, and said, "What about you? You're wearing a disguise!"

Christa rolled her eyes, now taking on the slightly manlier voice as she said, "I have to. I'm practicing my magic."

As she said this, the blonde removed the hood once more, revealing the boy from before.

Just as Levi was about to ask something, the doorbell chimed, and the two males standing in front of it looked over to it in slight surprise.

"It's the Rose door!" Jean said.

The blonde pulled the hood over his head yet again, but instead of the sweet Christa it was a taller brunette boy

"Stand by, "he called out with a calm voice.

At the door was yet another official of the Queen and King with a parchment in his hand.

"Would this be the residence of the great witch Hanji?"

"It is," the brunette replied.

The official smiled.

"I bear an invitation from Her Majesty the Queen. Please inform Ms. Hanji that all witches and wizards are required to report for duty at the palace."

As the official was talking, curiosity got the better of Levi and he made his way down the stairs and to the front door, next to the once-blonde-now-brunette boy.

"I will inform him right away," he said with a slight glare at Levi.

Levi didn't notice, he was too busy staring in awe at the new town before him. How had they been able to go from Maria to Rose just like that? It must have been some form of magic, he decided.

The official walked off and the brunette that answered the door stepped back inside.

"Move it, Grandpa, or you'll lose your nose!"

Levi huffed and headed back inside, muttering, "I thought you were supposed to be polite to guests…."

The former-brunette-back-to-blonde boy either ignored Levi's statement or simply didn't hear it as he said, "And stop wandering around."

As Levi walked up the stairs leading back into the house, the blonde groaned and said, "I need some breakfast. I'm starved…."

He went over to the cluttered dinner table and opened a drawer, revealing a big loaf of bread. He then picked up a plate of cheese and brought it over to a less-cluttered table. Levi stared blankly at the cluttered table, his hands itching to clean it, and he noticed a place of uncooked bacon and a box of eggs.

"Don't you want some eggs and bacon for breakfast?"

If he was being honest, Levi wasn't asking because he was genuinely concerned for the blonde's diet, but because he had never eaten bacon before and was dying to try it.

"Yeah, but we can't use the fire. Master Eren's not here."

Not particularly paying attention to the blonde's remark, Levi grabbed a pan hanging from the wall and said, "Don't worry, I can cook."

The blonde rolled his eyes, not that Levi could see from where he was standing, and muttered, "It doesn't matter. Jean only obeys Master Eren."

"That's right, fella," Jean declared. "I'm not taking any orders from you. Besides, it's not like I enjoy taking orders from that bastard."

Levi ignored him and but some of the uncooked bacon on the pan, rolling up his sleeves in the process.

"Alright, Jean. Let's get cooking."

"Didn't you hear me, old timer!? I don't cook! I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!" Jean cried, growing bigger and bigger.

Levi ignored him once more and shoved the pan in his face.

"Hush all of your whinnying. Geez, you sound just like a horse; if you weren't made of fire I would've mistaken you for one. Besides, you wouldn't want Eren to know about our little bargain, would you?"

Jean scowled at the pan in his face and groaned.

"Why did I ever let you in here!? You're no better than Eren at this point!"

"So, what'll it be Horsie?"

Jean, after a lot of internal grieving, eventually simmered down enough for Levi to fully place the pan over him.

Levi smiled at the sizzling coming from the pan as Jean muttered, "Here's another curse: May all your bacon burn…."

The blonde boy stared in awe at what had just unfolded in front of him.

"Jean's actually doing what he's says…."

"Now that I think about it, I would like some tea. Do you have a kettle?"

After his initial shock, the blonde gave a small, "Sure", and rushed to get Levi the kettle.

"What, no Armin! Don't get him the kettle! Whose side are you on, anyway!? Armin, what are you doing!?"

"Huh…," Levi said silently to himself. "So, his name's Armin."

Suddenly, the circle next to the door turned black and the three residents of the house turned to the door in surprise.

"Ha ha, old man!" Jean said. "That bastard's back and now he can throw you out!"

Levi silently gulped.

- _End of Chapter 4-_

A/N: I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Maybe it's because I haven't written anything for this book in months… Heh heh… Yeah, I'm really sorry anybody who's still reading this crossover. I've just had a lack of inspiration and motivation to write anything for this book, but after I forced myself to sit down and write something, I remembered how fun and satisfying it is. I hope you all stick around for the next chapter, which should come out much sooner than this one did.


	5. Chapter 5

The door opened to reveal an exhausted looking man with dark chocolate brown hair and an almost oversize black cloak. The brunette slowly closed the door behind himself, head low and unaware of the uninvited guest in his house.

"Master Eren!" Armin called, hurrying over to the wizard that was not much older than himself, but far more experienced in magic. "The Queen's messengers were here. They said you have to report to the palace as both Ymir _and_ Hanji."

As Eren took all of this in, he made his way up the stairs leading into the house. Levi stared at him intently as his mind raced.

' _Th-That's the mysterious man from before! S-So Isabel was right!'_

The sizzling of the bacon brought him out of his thoughts and he, not wanting the uncooked meat to burn, began to move them about in the plate with a utensil.

The now older man did his best not to think about how Eren was steadily approaching him as he flipped the eggs, but the sound of the taller male's footsteps made it hard to concentrate.

"Jean? You're being so obedient," Eren said in a low, yet joking voice.

"Yeah, well not on purpose! He bullied me, ya prick."

Eren chuckled at the talking flame and said, "Not just anybody can do that."

Suddenly, the tall male turned to Levi and said, "And you are… who?"

The former raven turned to Eren in surprise; the brunette didn't seem to recognize who he was, not that Levi could blame him. Levi honestly wanted to forget that day, seeing how Eren seemed to be the whole reason he was in this predicament.

Not wanting to cause any suspicion towards himself due to his silence, he put on his best fake smile and said, "U-Um, you can just call me Grandpa Levi….Heh… I-I'm your new cleaning man and I just started working today."

"Give that to me," Eren said, seemingly disregarding Levi's last statement.

The brunette scooted next to Levi, gently pushing him out of the way and taking the utensil and the pan from the slightly startled old man.

"Hand me two more slices of that bacon and six of those eggs."

Levi simply stared in surprise at what had just occurred. He had half expected the wizard to kick him out or, even worse, eat his heart.

Eren turned to Levi with a smile, holding the pan in front of the shorter male as he waited for the bacon and eggs.

Levi quickly got what the other male had asked for and watched as Eren laid the bacon on the sizzling pan and started cracking the eggs. To Levi's surprise, after Eren cracked an egg, he fed the shells to Jean. The fire demon ate the shells in fervor, and Levi found himself watching with amusement.

Once Eren had added four eggs to the pan and was in the middle of cracking the fifth, he said, "So, then, who hired you to clean?"

"Uh, Jean did. He said he's disgusted by how dirty it is in here."

Jean simply pouted, not wanting Levi to tell Eren about their bargain, and Eren simply hummed.

"Armin, get the plates," the wizard said once the sixth egg was added.

The brunette turned away from Levi and Jean, taking the pan full of food over to the cluttered table.

"Hey, wait a second, asshole! You're gonna eat while I do all the work!?"

Armin and Eren ignored the fire demon, and the blonde male said, "Come have some breakfast, Levi."

Levi was honestly surprised by the nice gesture from Armin, and carefully walked over to the cluttered table.

"Here, take a seat," said the blonde as he pulled out a chair for Levi to sit in.

Levi sat in the chair as Eren moved some of the piled up books out of the way and put two eggs and bacon on a plate for his guest.

A plate of food was passed over to Levi and Armin poured some of the tea Levi had mentioned he wanted earlier. Before the former raven could react, Armin shoved two spoons and one fork in his face.

"Which do you want? You can only get one because the rest are dirty."

Levi internally grimaced at hearing this, and made a promise to himself that even though he really wasn't here to be a maid, he would clean up this disgusting house.

After that, he simply picked one of the spoons and muttered, "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me…."

Eren, seemingly not paying attention to what Levi said, cut out a slice of bread and handed it to Armin. He then handed a slice to Levi, who gave a small, "Thank you, "in return, because manners and shit.

"Welp, friends," Eren said after getting himself a slice of bread, "Let's dig in."

Armin wasted no time digging in, saying, "I can't remember the last time we had a real breakfast!"

Levi watched in a sort of disgusted awe as Armin ferociously ate the food he was served. Geez, and he thought Jean was bad mannered.

Armin looked up from his food, a few crumbs of bacon on his lips, and said, "Go on and eat Levi. You're the one who wanted bacon, right?"

Oh, that was right. Levi carefully picked up a piece of bacon, Eren and Armin watching in amusement, and took a small bit out of it. Both Armin and Eren laughed as the older man's eyes grew wide and he hurriedly ate the rest of the delicious meat.

"Geez, you act as if you've never ate bacon before," Eren chuckled, before growing serious. "So, Levi, what do you have hidden in your pocket?"

Levi looked up at Eren from his food, the amount of eggs in his mouth causing him to look like a chipmunk. As he swallowed the rest of his eggs, he thought, ' _The fuck is he talking about? I don't have anything in my pocket.'_

Just to prove that he had nothing in his pocket, the former raven reached in and… pulled out a _card?_

' _When did this get in here?'_

"Give it to me," Eren said in a hurried tone, and both Levi and Armin watched as the brunette took the card from Levi.

Before either of them could react, Eren dropped the card as a flame shot around it, before disappearing. The dropped card fell on the table and burned into it. The words that were on the card burned themselves onto the table, leaving the smell of burnt wood in the air.

Both Eren and Armin gasped as Eren hurriedly read the word out loud.

"You who swallowed a falling star, oh heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me..."

Armin gasped once more and asked, "Is it from the Witch of the Waste?"

Eren simply nodded as he slowly brought his hand over the engraved words. Armin and Levi watched in awe as the words began to disappear as Eren's tan hand went over them.

Eren sighed once he was finished, and said, "The mark may be gone, but the spell is still there."

The brunette suddenly stood up from the table and said, "Excuse me, my friends, please continue your meal. "

He walked over to Jean, carrying his unfinished plate of food with him, and said, "Jean, move the castle 60 miles to the west. "

He dumped the rest of his food into Jeans awaiting mouth, and headed for the stairs that lead to the upper part of the house.

"And while you're at it, make hot water for my bath."

Jean rolled his eyes and muttered, "Fine, like moving the castle isn't hard enough."

When Levi and Armin heard a door upstairs close, the blonde gave Levi an accusing glance and said, "You're not working for the Witch of the Waste, are you?"

Levi went through a flurry of emotions in such a short amount of time that he felt he would combust. I honestly took Armin by surprise when the older man stood up with such anger and glared at him with such fury.

"I would _never_ work for that witch! She's the one who-."

Levi nearly panicked when he found himself unable to speak. His mouth shut itself up tight when he began speaking about the curse. His mind went back to what Jean said when they first met: _"Let me guess, the curse won't allow you to talk about it, right?"_

Despite this, Levi still tried his best to explain the situation to Armin.

"I-I'm actually a yuh… y-yu….!"

Despite his best efforts Levi couldn't get the words out, and this infuriated him to no end.

In a fit of anger and desperation, the older male slammed his hands down on the still-pretty-cluttered-table, causing anything on it-including their food- to bounce up into the air. A lot of the books that littered the table even fell off due to the sheer force of the hit, and Armin found himself wondering how and old man could pack such a punch.

"If I ever get my hands on that _bitch,_ I'm gonna wring her _fucking_ neck!"

With that, Levi sat down and turned to Armin, grumbling, "Finish your breakfast!"

Armin simply stared at the older man in awe as Levi began eating his breakfast in anger. The blonde wondered how they managed to get stuck with such a grumpy old man.

Not five minutes after the two had finished breakfast, Levi went to work cleaning the house, grumbling the whole time.

"I've had enough of this!" He said as he swept the dust off the roof. He was so forceful that dust began flying around everywhere, and it would have choked him if it weren't for the cloth around his nose and mouth.

He wasted no time switching from sweeping the roof to sweeping the dirty floor, Jean watching him the whole time with a wary look.

"I'm sick of being treated like some timid old man!"

The dust and dirt filling the house was almost too much for Armin-Now-Christa to bear. The blonde had opened the door and all the windows on the first floor to allow some of the dust to air out, but even that only helped so much. He almost wished he was wearing the same cleaning getup that Levi was wearing just so he wouldn't be sucking in all that dirt.

' _Maybe the dirtiness was getting a bit out of hand….'_

The blonde held onto his hood as he took some of the books and decorations out of the house so they would be free from Levi's abuse. As he was in the middle of doing this, a middle-aged woman came up to him and asked, "Hello, Christa, is my potion ready?"

Christa simply gave the woman an apologetic look and said, "Please come back later. There's a wizard on a rampage in there…."

Back inside the house, Levi had already finished sweeping at record speed (especially for an old person), and was dumping a pail of soapy water onto the floor. Without missing a beat, the elderly man had begun to map the floor with decreasing agitation. Levi always found that cleaning help calm his nerves and relax.

Once the floor was shining, he went to put the pail and mop away, passing by Jean in the meantime.

The poor fire demon's fireplace was overrun with ash from logs he had burned up already. He was now only left with one last remaining log, and to even call it a log was an exaggeration. At this point, the firewood felt like a mere stick.

If Jean didn't get more wood soon, he was certain that he would go out.

"Levi! Levi! Please help me! I-I'm going out."

The fire demon's meek cries fell on deaf ears as Levi walked past him. Jean was ecstatic when Levi started to make his was over to the dwindling flame, a small cup and tongs in his hands.

The closer he got, the more Jean panicked as he realized the tongs were for _him_!

"L-Levi! Levi, what are you doing!? N-No, no don't pick me up! Please, I'll-I'll fall! You crazy man with tongs!" Jean cried out as the elderly man picked up the stick he had been resting on.

Levi nearly outright laughed when Jean desperately held on to the stick as he picked it up. Once he had carefully pulled Jean all the way out of the ashes, he could finally see the little demon's butt that had a piece of coal in the center. His tiny, little legs moved around quickly, and if Levi wasn't so stressed out by his current situation, he would have found it quite cute.

"You'll be fine, you big baby," Levi said as he sat the burned up log on top of the cup he had brought over.

Levi began to ignore Jean's pitiful cries for help as he began to rid the fire place of its built up ashes.

"Please… I-I'm falling! I-I- Ah!"

Levi didn't notice that Jean had, apparently, lost all of the strength in his arms and fell down into the cup, a ring of white smoke marking his descent.

The grey haired male was so busy lugging a tarp full of ashes over to the door, that he didn't even notice a certain brunette enter the room.

Eren carefully picked up the cup Jean was in, and tossed a couple of firewood into the fireplace.

He carefully lifted the cup up to his unoccupied hand and poured the remnants of Jean into it. He no longer resembled the snarky fire demon, but instead a low, blue flame with a dark piece of coal in the center.

The powerful wizard gracefully brought the blue flames to his lips and blew on it gently. The flames began to slowly grow in size, and Eren carefully dropped the returning Jean onto the logs.

Once Levi was back from his task of discarding the ashes, he was surprised to see Eren quietly standing over the returning flame, helping him return back to normal.

When Eren fully stood up from examining Jean, he turned to Levi with a smile and said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't torment my friend. I know he can be annoying, but still."

As Levi took in the view that was Eren, he noticed that his usually unruly, shoulder-length hair was properly washed and combed. He also noticed that he appeared more… refreshed.

Armin quickly followed in behind Levi, and they both seemed surprised that Eren was walking right past them and to the door.

"Master Eren, are you going out now?" Armin asked, a small hint of hesitation in his voice.

Eren closed the door that the two had left open, turning the knob until the previously blue circle next to said door was black.

Turning back to Armin and Levi, Eren said, "Armin, make sure the maid doesn't get too carried away while I'm gone."

With that, he opened the door and flew out into a dark world that was lit up only by the red light of flames. The door quickly shut when he left, and Levi wondered where in the world the door could have taken him. Right as the door closed, the circle clicked back onto blue, and through the window Levi could see the calm light of the sun coming in once more.

"Hmph…" Levi finally groaned. "I'm not a maid…."

Armin seemingly ignored this statement and said, "Ugh, Levi, what did you do now?"

"He almost smothered me!" Jean called out before Levi could answer. "If I die, Eren dies too, genius!"

Levi rolled his eyes as he walked past Jean. "Shut up. You're all right. Now quit bothering me, I've got a job to do."

Levi made his way over to the stairs that led to the second floor of the house. Before he could even attempt to climb up them, Armin ran in front of him. The blonde had the nerve to keep the already agitated raven from leaning the rest of the house.

"W-Wait! You can't come up here!"

Levi glared at the blonde, having no intention of playing his silly game.

"Whatever you don't want me to clean, you better hide it now."

Armin gasped and looked around nervously. The blonde boy suddenly took off up the stairs, shouting, "Save my room for last, okay!?"

Levi couldn't help but let a chuckle slip out as he made his way up the steps. Once he was on the second floor, he nearly gagged at how disgustingly dirty everything was.

"What a pigsty, "he muttered before sighing. "I really do have my work cut out for me…."

- _End of Chapter Five-_

A/N: Wow, an update that actually took less than a month!? It must be witchcraft! I actually intended for this chapter to go on for a bit longer, but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible so I went against that. I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

Also, just a little side question, do you guys think that I should stick to the movie exactly, or should I deviate in some way? If so, what should I make different? For the most part it's been exactly like the movie, dialogue and all, with a few minor changes. I just wanted to know what you guys thought! :)

Preview: Levi learns some more things about Eren's castle and is reunited with a 'friend'. Eren returns and learns of a few things himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Levi slowly made his way to the room that was closest to the stairs: the bathroom.

Once he was in, he nearly walked right back out after seeing all of the disgusting colors that were splattered all over the wall. The elderly man assumed that all of these atrocious colors came from various potions Eren and Armin used while bathing. While he wasn't an expert in the arts of witchcraft or wizardry, that was the only explanation he could come up with.

He then groaned when he realized that the tub was still full from Eren's last bath, leaving the entire room foggy and humid.

' _Great,'_ he thought. ' _He has enough power to control a fire demon, have a young apprentice, and to be known as one of the most infamous wizards out there, but he can't even drain a fucking tub.'_

Before he began to feel faint due to all of the steam and humidity in the room, Levi decided to open the only two windows in the bathroom just to let in some fresh air.

What he didn't expect when he opened the windows was the amazing view he got.

When he last opened the door to the outside, they were in the bustling city of Maria. What boggled his mind was that when looking out the window, it was clear that they certainly weren't in Maria anymore.

When looking past the exhaust fumes that came from the castle, Levi could get the most wonderful view of the beautiful rolling hills and mountains that weren't too far off from where the castle was moving.

Levi wondered how they could possibly be in both Maria and here at the same time, but he quickly realized that the door leading into the house must have had some sort of strange and powerful magic attached to it. This magic must have not been connected to the windows of the castle, allowing him to see where they truly were.

He was truly impressed to realize that they had been on the move this whole time, but he didn't feel the castle so much as sway. It felt as if they truly were in a real home that was attached to the ground.

"Incredible," he said in awe.

Suddenly, he remembered Eren telling Jean to move the castle 60 miles west. So this must have been all of Jean's doing.

"Jean!" he called from the bathroom, quickly running down the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him.

"What, Grandpa!? I'm kinda busy with focusing on lugging this big pile o' metal around!" the fired demon called out from downstairs.

Levi nearly flung himself over the railing to the stairs in excitement, but simply chose to lean over it instead.

"So you really are the one moving the castle!"

"Of course I am," he replied, rolling his eyes. "No one else does any work around here."

"Well I am thoroughly impressed! You're a first-class fire demon and I like your spark!"

Jean stared at Levi with his mouth agape and eyes wide. The demon could see Levi's bright smile from his spot in the fireplace, and he could see the cursed man's hidden youth peek out as he excitedly ran back up the stairs to see the amazing view again.

If Jean had cheeks, they would be blushing from both surprise and flattery.

"He… He likes… my spark! Ha-Ha!"

The castle stared to move a bit faster as Jean's excitement got the better of him. Levi laughed quietly at Jean's happiness. It must have been a long time since the little demon had been complimented.

Levi suddenly looked outside the bathroom and across the hall to a stray door that led to the outside of the castle. Curiosity got the better of him and he hurriedly made his way over to said door, opening it.

"Wah! Not ready, not ready!" Armin shouted when he assumed Levi was headed for his room. He was shocked to see that Levi completely ignored him in favor of going out the door that led to the small balcony of the castle.

Not wanting the old man to hurt himself with his excitement, the blonde quickly followed after Levi.

As Armin got closer to Levi, who was staring in awe at the beautiful pastures before him, he could see Levi's look of pure amazement and awe, and it made the small blonde smile.

"You've never been to this side of the country before?"

Levi shook his head, not once tearing his eyes away from the view.

"I've only ever lived in the city, and when Mother was alive we never had enough money to travel..." he said absent-mindedly.

Armin made a mental note that if Levi was going to continue to live with them, he would make sure to take him to some of the most beautiful places he knew.

They both stared out at the beautiful expanse, but something stuck in the balcony caught both of their attentions. It appeared that a large stick had gotten itself stuck in between the railings of the balcony, and the wind was making it shudder and shake.

Both Armin and Levi moved closer to the stick, and noticed it was not stuck in the railings, but lodged inside of a hatch on the castle.

"What's this doing in here?" Armin asked curiously.

The two males worked together to get the 'stick' out of the open hatch, but they were both surprised to find that it was not just a mere stick, but a scarecrow. When they finally pulled the scarecrow onto the balcony, Levi was surprised to find that he recognized the torn thing.

"Turnip-head!?"

"You know him?"

Levi sighed and said, "Yeah, he keeps following me around and always manages to get himself stuck upside down."

Suddenly, Levi noticed the white cloth stuck the scarecrows only pocket. After further inspection, Levi realized that it was his own cravat.

"You found it!" he said, grabbing the cloth and immediately re-tying it around his neck.

"Thank you, Turnip-head. I really appreciate it."

The scarecrow seemed to beam with joy as he bounced up and down on his stick. Before either Levi or Armin could fathom what was happening, Turnip-head had jumped up so high that he landed on the very top of the castle. The two males wondered if he meant to do that, but their suspicions were confirmed when they saw the scarecrow bouncing happily.

"I wonder how he managed to find us," Levi pondered out loud. "I think he's taken a liking to me."

"That's weird…. Are you sure you're not a wizard, Levi?"

Levi gave a sly smile before leaning in and saying," Oh, yes! I'm the worst kind of wizard, the kind that cleans!"

Armin gave a small yelp and Levi couldn't help but laugh at his own joke.

Before either of them knew it, Jean had moved the castle next to a nearby lake to rest for a bit. The castle's exhaust pipes hissed and the metal creaked as they were finally relieved of all the stress that had been put on them for the past few days.

Turnip-head bounced down from the top of the castle, and next to Levi and Armin, who were carrying out a basket of clothes to be hung up and dried.

The scarecrow did his best to help the two hang up the clothes as quickly as possible, and before they knew it they were finished.

Armin got the idea to pull out to chairs and a small table from the castle so he and Levi could have lunch. As Levi cut the bread Armin brought out for the sandwiches, Armin watched as Turnip-head joyfully bounced up and down with the clothes rack.

"I bet he's some kind of demon," he pondered. "Besides, Jean doesn't seem to mind him at all."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe he is a demon," Levi said, looking out over the lake. "But he led me here, so maybe he's the good kind."

Once they were finished eating, Armin offered for Levi to let him and Turnip-head put away the now-dried laundry. Levi insisted that he help at first, but Armin assured him that it was okay, and that he just wanted Levi to rest and enjoy the scenery. Levi was very grateful that Armin no longer treated him as an unwelcome guest, and reminded himself that he would have to thank Armin for his hospitality.

It had only been a few minutes after Armin offered to put up the clothes when he returned and said, "We got all the clothes put away, Levi."

Levi smiled at him, still not quite used to having someone help him with the chores. At the shop, it was always only him doing the work, and when Kenny was there he was of no help. It was nice to not have to not have to do everything by himself for a change.

"Thank you, Armin. I think that… when you're old, all you want to do is stare at the scenery…."

Armin looked at Levi as the elder stared off at the lake, eyes glossed over as if he were in another world of his own. While the blonde had not known Levi for that long, he had grown a liking to the elderly man and he had a feeling that there was more to Levi than he was letting on.

Armin's thoughts were cut off when Levi began to speak again.

"It's so strange…. I've never felt so peaceful before…."

Even though Armin was itching to get back inside, he allowed Levi to have a few more minutes of peace before helping the older male carry the chairs and table back into the house.

 _-Line Break-_

As Eren walked over the large expanse of the battle field, he scoffed. Looking around at all the monsters that roamed made him feel sick.

Though, he realized, he couldn't judge these beasts too harshly, for he was a monster too.

The brunette's form had changed drastically since he left the house for the battle field. HE was now much, much bigger- perhaps even the same size of his moving castle.

His size wasn't the only thing that changed. He no longer looked like the handsome man from before, but he was now an ugly beast with big, sunken eyes and huge teeth that had nothing to cover them. He was completely naked, and his figure stayed about the same aside from that fact that he now had no genitals to speak of.

Beasts like himself, known as 'titans' by the royal entourage, were not uncommon when it came to the battlefield. The only thing that made himself different from the giant brainless monsters that roamed the field was that he could change back into a human. The others, sadly, could not and would never be able to even recall a fragment of their humanity.

The expanse around him was red and hot from the fire that was caused by multiple enemy bombings. The screams of the titans around him were nearly drown out by the wave of fresh bombs being dropped on their territory.

Eren noticed that a large band of titans were headed right for him. They may have been stupid, but they could tell when someone was not like themselves. It's how the queen programed them, so that they were stupid enough to not realize when they were hurt, but smart enough to know who the enemy was.

Before they could even get to Eren, he held out his hand to create a large force field around himself. The titans simply kept ramming themselves into the force field, only to be thrown back by its magic.

Eren shook his head at this sad display, and quickly cast a spell to remove himself from the field and in front of the stairs leading to his castle.

He knew well enough not to even attempt to enter his home at the height he was now, so he used all of his strength to bring himself back to normal size.

Exhausted, he opened the door and slowly walked inside. Once Jean caught sight of him, he gave a small "whew", and allowed Eren to sit in the chair in front of the fire place and perch his legs up on said fie place without so much as a fight.

The brunette gave a long, tired sigh, before leaning back in the chair and resting. He had used a lot of magic today.

"You okay? I mean, geez, you smell terrible…."

Eren knew Jean genuinely was concerned, but he still gave no reply back. He was now far too focused on changing his appearance back into that of a human, and not a monster.

Jean watched quietly as Eren struggled to change back, his naked skin morphing into the clothes he had been wearing before he left, and his face returning to its usual appearance.

He gave another long, tired sigh once he was back to normal and no longer in his titan form.

"You know, you shouldn't keep shifting like that. Soon, you won't be able to turn back into a human…."

Once he was finished speaking, he grabbed a spare log that was sitting beside him. He carefully laid the log down underneath himself and smiled.

"Isn't this great? Levi put these here for me."

Eyes still closed, Eren muttered a small, "He did, did he?"

The brunette carefully sat up, cringing at the sound of his joint popping. He gave an exhausted huff and said, "This war is terrible…. They've bombed from the southern coast to the northern border. Tch… It's all in flames now."

Jean shook his head in disappointment and said, "I can't stand the fire and gunpowder. Those dopey guys have absolutely no manners."

Eren gave a smirk that lacked its usual fire and passion behind it. His eyes were the ones that now carried that burning passion and hate.

"My own kind attacked me today."

"Who, the Witch of the Waste?"

Eren shook his head.

"No, some dense wizards who turned themselves into monsters for the queen."

Jean gave a disappointed sigh and said, "Those wizards are going to regret doing that. They'll never be able to change back into humans."

Eren gave a sad sigh and said, "After the war, they won't recall they ever were human…."

"Hey," Jean said after some thought. "Aren't you supposed to report to the queen too?"

Eren ignored his question and stood up from his seat.

"I'm tired. Make some hot water for my bath."

Jean groaned.

"What, not again!"

Before Eren could go over to the stairs, he could hear heavy breathing coming from behind a curtain that led to a spare room on the first floor.

Curious, he carefully waked over and pulled the curtain aside. To his surprise, he found a young, raven-haired male lying on the small bed, asleep.

After a moment of watching, Eren realized that this was the boy he helped in the town the other day. But how did he get in his house?

"Jean," Eren said quietly, not trying to wake the young man. "Who is this?"

"What do you mean, 'who is this'? It's Levi. He and Armin went to sleep not too long ago. Geez, did ya get brain damage out there?"

Eren's eyes, which had never left the admittedly cute young man, narrowed in confusion.

"Levi? But… this is a young man…."

Jean suddenly gasped in realization.

"That's right…. You don't know…."

"Know what?" Eren asked, his attention now turned to Jean.

"Well, to tell you the truth, the night Levi wondered in, I could see that he was cursed and the curse won't let him talk about it. The spell might not be active while he's asleep. I think it was the Witch of the Waste."

Eren's eyes furrowed in anger.

"Of, fucking, course it was…."

He turned his attention back to Levi and quietly knelt down next to him. Eren watched as Levi peacefully dream, and the brunette couldn't help but smile. He gently ran his hands through the younger's pitch-black hair before quietly asking Jean a question.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

If Jean were a human, he'd be sweating buckets by now.

"U-Um, well I may have m-made a deal with him…."

"And that deal was?"

"Uhmmm. Th-That I'd help him break his curse… if he could break my ties with you… y-ya bastard…"

Eren rolled his eyes and said, "My, my, Jean. So quick to try and get away from me."

Jean rolled his eyes and said, "Just go take your fucking shower, you smell like shit."

Eren could help but give a small chuckle.

 _-End of Chapter Six-_

A/N: Man, I am on a roll with these weekly updates. Now, let's see if I can keep it up!

Preview: Levi discovers that Eren is more dramatic than he thought.


	7. Chapter 7

TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter does contain mentions to past rape, violence, and I suppose implications of trauma(?). I will place indicators at the spot where it is brought up, but don't worry, it didn't happen to Levi or Eren or any other main character. Feel free to skip this portion, as it is not essential for the reading of this fic. I hope I didn't inconvenience anyone with the addition of this minor plot-point, and that you can still enjoy the rest of this chapter. Please enjoy! : )

- _Line Break-_

The castle's abrupt shaking due to Eren cutting on the water for his bath caused Levi to bolt right up out of bed. He winced as his old bones popped and creaked when he moved. Quickly brushing the hair out of his face, he opened the curtain that kept him from seeing Jean and gave the fire demon a surprised look.

"Is Eren back?"

"Yes. The bastard's wasting all my hot water again," Jean said as he idly grabbed another log and bit into it.

Levi rolled his eyes and decided to get up, not wanting to sleep the day away. He quickly woke up Armin and told him to get dressed, much to the blonde's displeasure. He himself got dressed, and once they were both ready and well feed, they headed out into the town of Maria.

"I don't know why we're doing this. Master Eren hardly eats!"

"Too bad," Levi said half-heartedly.

If Levi was being completely honest with himself, he didn't completely understand himself why they were out buying groceries for Eren. Perhaps it was because he wanted to thank Eren in return for taking him in, even with his terrible lie.

Levi also admittedly like going out early in the morning. The cool breeze and mostly silent streets always calmed him and brought a smile to his face.

"Don't you just love early morning markets, Christa? And just look at the water!"

Levi nearly forgot that Armin was clad in his magic cloak that transformed him from a spirited little blonde boy into a kind-hearted little blonde girl. Besides, calling Armin 'Christa' didn't sit well on his tongue.

He didn't even give the blonde a second to answer before he continued speaking.

"I've never seen the ocean before! It's beautiful!"

Christa rolled her bright blue eyes, all the while smiling, and said, "It _always_ looks like that."

They continued to make their way into the busier side of town, which resided near the docks, and began buying what they came for.

Levi carefully looked at some potatoes at a pregnant brunette woman's vender while Christa busied herself with finding fresh fish at the vender next to the plump woman's.

The cheery blonde happened to glance over at what Levi was looking to buy, and her expression turned sour.

"I hate potatoes…."

The brunette woman gasped, appalled that anyone would dare say such a thing about her beloved potatoes, while her shorter, bald husband tried his best to calm her down.

Levi gave Christa a glare, and muttered, "Pay up."

The blonde rolled her eyes, remembering that Levi had no money with him to speak of, and paid the brunette who was still trying to keep from being hysterical.

"Th-Thank you! Have a nice day!" The brunette's short husband called out as they began to walk to a bakery that was near the docks and its venders.

As the duo looked around for a loaf of bread as the baker himself did his best to convince the two to buy his goods.

"All of our pastries were baked fresh this morning!"

Levi was cut off from making his decision by a commotion that began outside.

"One of our ships is in the harbor!"

"It looks like it's on fire!"

A woman burst into the shop, her little boy in tow, and called out to get the baker's attention.

"It looks like there's been a serious battle!"

The baker's attention was immediately on the woman as he asked, "What happened!?"

Right before running out of his own store, the baker looked to Levi and Christa and said, "Sorry, sir, we're closed."

As he and the woman ran out, Levi could hear the cries of the townspeople grow louder and louder.

"It looks like it's on fire!" One man cried out.

Levi and Christa looked at each other and quickly made their way out of the store to see what the townspeople were talking about.

As they made their way to the docks, Levi could see one of Maria's battleships slowly pulling back into harbor. There was smoke coming from many of its windows, and it looked like it had been to Hell and back.

Levi and Christa watched in horror as dozens of lifeboats made to the burning ship. Just as one of said lifeboats was about to reach the ship, hundreds of men began to jump from the ship and into the water for safety.

"Come on, Levi, let's get a better look!"

Levi was pulled out of his thoughts by Christa, who was adamantly tugging on his sleeve in an attempt to get him moving. Levi let himself be pulled along by the blonde as his heart raced and his legs shook.

This scene felt all too familiar. Watching a horrific scene take place, and standing on the sidelines unable to do anything to help.

- _TRIGGER WARNING! -_

His mind went back to when he was very young, about three or four. This was when his mother was desperate and worked for her brother Kenny at his brothel. There had been a raid, a terrible on too. Dozens of drunk men flooded in to the cramp, dirty place, too drunk to even think straight. They had guns, which they made a show of by shooting in the air or even turning their weapons to some of the women working there. One man had even shot one of the women when she didn't want to comply with his demands.

Levi, too young to even properly understand the horrible truth behind their home, could only hide in the closet and watch through the slits as his mother was violently attacked and taken advantage of, along with all of the other women working at the brothel.

 _-TRIGGER WARNING OVER-_

The currently crowded docks, on which he and Christa were standing, all too well reminded him of that dark memory he had spent his whole life trying to forget.

When he finally came back to reality, Christa was staring at him with a worried expression. He looked down at his hands, which had been interlocked with Christa's when she dragged him closer to the scene, and noticed that they -just like his legs- were violently trembling.

"Levi, are you okay? What's wrong? Do I need to get Eren?"

"N-No, I've j-just seen all I can take. Let's go home, Armin."

Noticing that Levi was too shaken to even address him by his fake name, Armin made it his priority to get Levi home as soon as possible.

Just as they were able to weave their way out of the crowd, the sound of a bomb being dropped caught everyone's attention.

Two bombs hit the water, causing everyone in the crowd to run away in fear.

Armin looked up to see an enemy plane flying overhead. The airship seemed to have no intention of dropping anymore bombs, but people still ran away, screaming in fear.

Armin quickly grabbed Levi's arm and began running in the direction of the house. As they ran, Armin could hear some officials trying to get the horde of people to calm down.

"Everyone remain calm! It is just the enemy trying to scare us into submission!"

Armin paid no attention to this as he and Levi finally got to the house. They quickly ran inside, and once they were in, Armin let his hood fall as he closed the door and locked it. He quickly turned his attention to Levi, who seemed to still be in shock.

"Levi, are you okay!?"

Levi didn't answer him, and the only thing that could be heard were the sounds of their harsh panting, and Jean crackling in the fire place.

Armin carefully led Levi up the stairs and into the house, doing his best as to not move to quickly and startle the frazzled man.

Once Levi came back to his senses, he said, "I-I th-think I just need a glass of w-water."

"I'll get it," Armin said as he hurried to the kitchen to drop off their groceries and get Levi his much needed water.

Levi finally sat in front of the chair seated in front of the fire place, and sighed, closing his eyes.

Jean carefully eyed the old man, unsure of what to say, until Armin came back with Levi's water. He handed it to the older male, who gave a small, "Thank you" in return.

"Geez, what happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Armin glared at him, and Jean took that as a sign to shut up.

Before the three of them could grow comfortable in the silence, a loud yell from the bathroom made all of them gasp in surprise.

All three of them watched as Eren came running out of the bathroom in only a towel around his hips. The wizard had his hands covering his eyes as accidently ran into the wall outside of the bathroom, his shrieking never ceasing. He was finally able to make it all the way down the stairs when Armin, Levi, and Jean could see that the wizard's hair was no longer its signature dark chocolate brown, but a bright _orange_ color.

He uncovered his eyes to reveal his once calm, jade eyes were now angry and hateful.

"Levi! You sabotaged me! Look! Look what you've done to my hair! LOOK!"

He ran up to the shorter male, nearly knocking him over as he shoved his orange locks into Levi's face. He was pulling at his hair to show Levi that the color went all the way down to his roots. The tugging of his hair didn't help the situation any because it only caused him to literally _pull some of it out_. Not at the roots, luckily, but enough to make it shorter. Levi also figured that whatever caused his hair to change in color is what was causing it to fall out, because it came out way easier than it should have.

"W-What a pretty col-"

"IT'S HIDEOUS!" Eren cried. "You completely ruined my magic potions in the bathroom!"

Armin was genuinely taken aback by this display. While it wasn't uncommon for Eren to lose his temper around Jean and himself, it was _unheard of_ for Eren to go this crazy in front of someone else.

Levi, still seemingly not over the events from earlier, fiddled with his hands, unable to look Eren in the eye.

"I-I just organized things, Eren, nothing's ruined."

"WRONG! WRONG! Ugh, I specifically told you to not get this carried away!"

The powerful wizard seemed to let out a _sob_ as he let his now-shorter hair cover his eyes.

"Now I'm repulsive," he sobbed as he fell back into the chair Levi had previously been sitting in. "I can't live like _this."_

The now-red headed male let out a series of sobs that surprised even Armin and Jean. Levi, not wanting Eren to be disheartened, put a gentle hand on his naked back and spoke to him in the sweetest voice he could muster.

"Come on, it's not that bad."

Eren continued sobbing as his hair changed from the bright orange color, to a dark purple color, before finally settling on a brunette color that _actually_ looked brown, as opposed to the almost-raven color it had been before.

"Y-You should look at it now! This shade is even better!"

Eren's tears seemed to stop falling as he spoke in the creepiest monotone voice Levi had ever heard.

"I give up. I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful."

The house began to shudder and shake as the lights dimmed, leaving the room to only be illuminated by Jean's glow. Dark shadows began appearing on the wall, causing Levi and Armin to move closer to each other. Eren's form began to change as his tan skin turned a sickly green color and took on the appearance of a disgusting slime.

"Eren? Eren, cut it out. No, s-stop it, Eren."

Jean's words fell on deaf ears as the inside of the house continued to shake.

"He's calling the Spirits of Darkness," Armin explained. "Jean told me he did it when his mother died, but the only time I've seen him do it was when a girl dumped him."

The shadows grew larger and larger, and Levi decided that it was time for this to stop.

"Now, Eren, you're all right. We'll dye your hair back again, 'kay?"

The old man gasped in shock as the hand he touched Eren with in an attempt to comfort him was covered in slime. Eren stared blankly at the floor as Levi slowly backed away from him.

At this point, Levi was fed up.

"Fine! You think you got it bad!? I've never been fucking _'beautiful'_ once in my life!"

Levi turned from the wizard and his apprentice, and headed for the door.

"I've had enough of this fucking place!"

He opened the door, not even noticing that when he turned the knob, the color of the circle changed.

When Levi left, he walked right into the rain that poured outside, not even noticing that he was no longer in Maria, but back in front of the moving castle.

He stood in the rain, rethinking all of the events that had unfolded in the past few days.

This had been a horrible day; scratch that, a horrible week; scratch that, a horrible _life_.

All Levi had ever done was follow the rules, and do as he was told.

He hid in the closet in the brothel when his mother told him too; he didn't complain when he was taken from place to place to find somewhere new to live; he didn't make a peep when his mother decided to use the money Kenny had given them to buy a shop instead of going to the hospital to treat the disease she had gotten on the night of the raid; he didn't have a pity party when his mother died and left him nothing but her _stupid_ shop; he helped out Farlen and Isabel after he found them half-dead in an alley on his way home to the shop; he didn't even _fucking_ argue with Kenny when he told him to start fixing dresses for the women at his brothel so he could keep business coming in.

So why, _WHY_ did it always seem like life wanted to screw him over for doing _everything_ out of the kindness of his heart. _WHY_ was he so _miserable_ because he just wanted to make his mother happy? And fucking _WHY_ did that stupid _Bitch of the Waste_ have to come into his life and give him no other option than to turn to the most _conceited_ man he had ever met!?

All of these emotion piled onto Levi as he stood in the rain, angrily staring at nothing. Before he could stop them, tears began to make their way down his face, mixing with the rain. The negative emotions that he had been holding back all these years finally spilled out in the form of a choked sob.

He couldn't help but just stand there and cry as he wished that he could just be _done_ with it all.

He didn't even notice the sound of a bouncing scarecrow making its way over to him. Turnip-Head hopped over to the crying man, an umbrella perched in his only wooden arm. He hopped until the umbrella was over Levi's head and shielding him from the downpour of rain.

Levi sniffled as he looked up to the scarecrow, wiping his tears. Turnip-head had the same, non-moving smile as always as he stared blankly ahead, but Levi could feel the love radiating off of him.

"Th-Thank you, Turnip-Head…. How did you get to be so kind?"

Levi knew that Turnip-Head couldn't answer him back, but he wished that he could. He wanted to know how it was possible to be so kind without expecting anything in return.

There was a moment of silence, the only sound being heard was the pitter-patter of the rain, which was beginning to let up.

In that moment, Levi felt like maybe life wasn't so bad after all.

- _End of Chapter 7-_

A/N: Whew, I kept up with the schedule (barely)! I'm sorry if this chapter was kind of a bummer, but things will begin to look up for Levi soon, I promise.

Preview: Levi and Armin help the drama-queen and Eren comes up with a plan.

P.S.: Also, starlithorizon22, sorry for Eren's behavior in this chapter, but it's what happened in the movie. More mature Eren is sure to return soon (hopefully) ;)


	8. Chapter 8

Levi barely even registered the sound of Armin's feet hitting the ground, which is why it startled him when the blonde was suddenly next to him, gripping his arm.

"Levi, I-I'm really sorry for the way Eren's been acting! It's not your fault!"

Levi stared at the young boy for a second, the sound of rain and Armin's panting being the only noise that fell between the two.

Armin almost thought that Levi hadn't heard him until the older man gave him a small smile.

"It's alright, Armin. Trust me, I've dealt with worse."

He gave a small chuckle, and Armin couldn't help but chuckle too, the rain making both of them shiver slightly.

Before either of them could say anything else, Jean's call from within the house alerted all three of them (Turnip-head included).

"Armin! Levi!"

"O-Oh, right!" Armin said, remembering why he had come out in the first place. "Levi, we need to get back inside. Eren's in trouble."

Levi gave a small, "Okay….", before letting himself be dragged back inside by Armin.

By the time the two of them got back in –Turnip-head decided that he actually liked being in the rain- Jean looked as if he were about to have a heart attack. Eren was lying face-first on the fire place, unmoving, and Jean was left to try and avoid the slime-like essence that was coming from Eren's body.

"Eren, cut it out! I'm gonna drown!"

No response.

"I'm drowning here, Eren. Levi! Levi, he didn't mean it! Help him, please!"

Levi rolled his eyes and muttered, "Such drama," while rolling up his sleeves.

His eyes were long dry by now, and he felt much better after that good and long-deserved cry.

"I-Is he dead?" Armin asked from beside him, afraid to hear Levi's answer.

"No, he's fine. The big baby is just throwing a temper tantrum."

He made his way over to Eren and stood behind the wizards now-drenched-chair, plopping on hand on his hip.

"Give me a hand, Armin."

And so, the two of them got to work by pushing Eren far from Jean's fire place, much to the fire-demon's delight, and over to the stairs.

Once they were there, Levi put one of Eren's arms over his shoulder, cringing slightly at the slime getting on his already wet clothes ( D), and began dragging the taller male up the stairs to the second floor.

"Armin, can you run up there and get the hot water running?"

"Yes sir!" Was his quick reply, and he did just as he was told.

Levi wobbled a bit as Eren's dead-weight nearly pulled him down, and he groaned.

"Come on, Eren, you can still walk."

A 'plop'ing noise caught Levi's attention, and he looked back at where the sound came from. To his surprise, there lay the towel that had been around Eren's waist. The older man stared at it for a few seconds, a blush slowly making its way on his cheeks, and he forced himself not to look down at Eren's… Well… _nether regions._

He continued dragging Eren up the stairs until they finally reached the bathroom. Levi gave a sigh of relief, and carefully helped Armin get the wizard into the tub.

"Get him cleaned up, Armin." Levi said as he walked out.

"I will," Armin called back.

Levi closed the door to the bathroom and turned back around, only to find that retched slime _all over the floor._

"Guess I have to mop again…."

Once the former raven was finished, he tiredly flopped down into the now-clean chair that Eren had been sitting in. Today had been _quite_ a day.

The only sound that could be heard was Levi's deep breathing, and the crackling of the fire.

"Hey, um… I just wanted to say thanks…."

Levi peeped one eye opened and stared at Jean, who was looking shyly away from him.

"For what? I'm the 'maid', it's my job to clean," he said, jokingly.

"Yeah, I know, but not just that. You know… you coulda left… but you didn't…. You even helped that bastard after all the things he said to you and the freak show he put on. That takes some guts and determination."

Levi gave a small smile, and closed his eyes again.

"It's really no problem. I've dealt with bigger bullshit before. Besides, he's really not that bad. He's just got… a temper, and that just means he's passionate. I like that in a person."

"What, a temper?"

Levi mentally rolled his eyes.

"No, passion."

Jean gave a small hum and it was quiet once more.

"Hey, about that… _deal_ we made when you first got here?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to break my curse. I was just fooling around."

Levi smirked and looked at Jean.

"Is that so?"

"Yeahhhhh…." Jean said, groaning at Levi's smirk. "But, I'm still keeping my end of the deal."

This really caught Levi's attention.

"…What?"

Jean looked away, his pride getting the best of him.

"I… Imma still do what I can to try and break your curse. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not all powerful, but I think I can help a little bit…."

Levi's eyes lit up for a moment, before he smirked again.

"Who are you, and what have you done with the real Jean?"

Jean groaned, his flame growing slightly bigger.

"Ha Ha, very funny. I try to be sincere and this is what I get? Wonderful…."

"I'm just joking, stupid… But, thanks, really…."

Before Jean could give a snarky reply, the door to the bathroom opened, causing both Levi and Jean to look up towards the stairs. They heard Armin help Eren get to his room, before closing the door to leave the wizard in peace and quiet. After he came down the stairs, he stood next to Levi, sighing.

"Finally, all done!"

Levi laughed a bit, before standing up and ruffling Armin's hair.

"You get some rest. I'm gonna spend the night with Eren just to make sure he's okay."

With that, the older man went to his small guest room and got his pajamas, before heading upstairs to change.

Armin and Jean watched as he made his way up the stairs, and waited to begin talking after they heard the door to the bathroom close.

"Hey, Jean?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Levi likes being here?" He whispered.

"I don't know; why don't you go ask him?"

Armin rolled his eyes and gave a small glare to Jean.

"What I mean is, do you think he wants to stay here? After his curse is broken?"

If Jean had shoulders he would shrug them.

"I don't know. Maybe- Wait! H-How did you know about the curse!?"

"I heard you and him talking on the night he first came in."

"I-I thought you were asleep, you little sneak!"

Armin laughed and said, "You don't always know what I'm doing!"

Jean groaned and said, "Go to bed, ya creep!"

- _Line Break-_

The next day, Eren awoke to the sound of light snoring coming from his left. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see that he was in his room, which was filled to the brim with little trinkets and gizmos from various places he had ventured to in his life.

The wizard was utterly confused. How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was… yelling at….

Levi!

Eren suddenly shot into an upright position on his bed.

Oh, he had been such a jackass! It wasn't Levi's fault that his hair was orange, it was his own carelessness, since he had not even bothered to look at the label on the potion bottle before using it on his hair.

Just as he was about to bolt right up out of bed and find Levi so he could apologize, a groan coming from beside him caused him to halt.

He looked to his left to find Levi sitting in a chair next to his bed. He was laying on Eren's bed, and it was obvious that he had trying to take up as little space as possible so as to not disrupt the wizard.

Eren also noticed that Levi was young once more, his pale skin contrasting drastically to his now-dark raven hair.

The wizard couldn't help but be absolutely stunned at how… beautiful Levi looked. He hadn't been able to get a good look at the younger last night, what with it being dark, but now he was elated that he got to see him without that damned curse.

' _Fine! You think you got it bad!? I've never been fucking 'beautiful' once in my life!'_

Eren's heart sank as he remembered Levi's words from last night. He couldn't have possibly meant it… could he? The man before Eren now was gorgeous, and there was simply no denying that.

Just as Eren was about to reach out and tuck a few strands of Levi's hair behind his ear, the raven groaned again and buried his face into his arms.

Eren watched helplessly as Levi's beautiful black hair turned back into grey. Eren could only assume that Levi was waking up.

"Levi?"

The now-older man looked up at Eren, his eyes still glazed over from sleep.

"Mnnn… Oh… Hey, Eren."

Levi sat up in his chair and stretched, his bones popping slightly.

"Are you feeling okay? I got you some hot milk last night… Well, it was hot." He said as he delicately picked up the china cup sitting on Eren's nightstand.

Eren awkwardly cleared his throat, unsure of what to say.

"Um, thank you Levi…. I… I just wanted to say…."

Levi watched him expectantly as Eren struggled to get the words out.

"I wanted to say th-thank you…."

Levi cocked his head to the side.

"For what?" He asked innocently.

Oh yeah, he was definitely still sleepy, Eren deduced.

"F-For the way I acted last night. It was very ungentlemanly, and you didn't deserve to be yelled at. I could… tell that you had had a rough day, and I know I didn't make it any better. I… I don't deserve your kindness…."

Levi stared at him for a moment, before smiling.

"It's okay, Eren, really. I mean, I guess I can kind of understand why you got so mad… And while your actions were… childish… I forgive you."

Eren couldn't help but smile as well, before fidgeting.

"W-Well, it doesn't m-matter what my hair l-looks like… A-As long as you are h-happy and w-well…."

Levi cocked an eyebrow.

"You wanna see it, don't you?"

Eren furiously nodded, and Levi laughed.

"Okay, okay, here you go," he said as he handed Eren a hand-held mirror from his nightstand.

Eren took it with no hesitation, and sighed once he saw that his hair was no longer orange.

"See? I told you it looked good. Just part it a bit in the middle, and… brush it down a bit and… there you go!"

As Levi spoke, he took his hand and combed it through Eren's hair, giving it a part in the middle and combing it down a bit.

Eren watched himself intently as Levi did this, and gave a satisfied smile once he was done.

"You know what? I could make this work! Sure, it's lighter than before, but it makes me look young, you know?"

Levi giggled as Eren checked himself out in the mirror, and outright laughed when he started making kissing sounds at himself.

"G-Geez, what happened to the smooth and suave Eren from before?"

Eren gave a small "Pfft", and said, "I'm still like that, but I can be a goofball sometimes too. Trust me, Armin and Jean will tell you."

Levi rolled his eyes and flicked Eren on his forehead. There was a comfortable silence before Eren sat the mirror down and grew a serious and thoughtful look.

"The Witch of the Waste is still trying to find my castle…. Those were what attacked us that say in the town."

Levi gasped when Eren mentioned their first meeting.

"How did you-?"

"Jean told me you were cursed, and I just kind of put the pieces together. I know she's the one who cursed you, and I'm sorry…. You got hurt because of my foolishness…."

"I-It wasn't foolish! You saved me, Eren! What happened to me wasn't your fault…. Besides, we can't keep looking in the past... We just need to look towards the future…." He said with a far-away look that gave Eren the hint that he wasn't just referring to forgetting about the day he was cursed.

Eren couldn't help but look down in shame.

"I'm such a coward. All I do is hide…. And I just use all of this magic to keep everybody away…. I can't stand how scared I am…."

Levi stared at him with empathy.

"It's okay to be scared sometimes. Everybody gets scared, even the Witch of the Waste, I just know it. But what's important is that we don't let that fear hold us back. We have to be brave."

Eren gave him a smile.

"How did you get to be so smart?"

"I'm not the one who's smart. My mother used to tell me that all the time. It's what kept me going…. A-Anyway, why is the Witch of the Waste trying to hunt you down?"

Eren sighed at his own foolishness and answered the question.

"She has always been quite beautiful, so I decided to pursue her. Then, I realized that she wasn't… Well, metaphorically. Her heart is selfish and cold, turned that way by her lust for power and love. But, I can't entirely put the blame on her. She, like me, didn't have the best background…. But, instead of looking towards the future, she let her heart become bitter and angry. So, as usual, I ran away…."

Levi took all of this in slowly. He had always heard from people that the Witch of the Waste was a cruel and heartless person, but those people had no idea about her ties to the beloved Eren.

"But, I can't run much longer…. I have to report to the palace, as both the great Witch Ymir _and_ Hanji, two characters I came up with as a means to continue running away from my problems."

"How many aliases do you have anyway?"

"As many as I need to keep my freedom."

Levi hummed as he thought hard about Eren's situation.

"Just… refuse the Queen's invitation!"

Eren sighed and pointed to a paper hanging on the wall behind him.

"You see that? That's the oath I took when I entered the Royal Sorcery Academy. I must report to the palace whenever summoned. If I don't, and they find me, I can be tried for treason against the King and Queen and executed."

"Well… Maybe you should just go and see the Queen."

"W-What!?" Eren exclaimed, jade eyes wide and confused.

"Well, stop taking their bullshit! Give her a piece of your mind, and tell him this war is pointless. Stand up for yourself, and tell him that you refuse to take part."

Eren groan and rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"You obviously don't know what these people are like."

"But… she's our queen. She should want to hear what all of her citizens have to say."

Eren stared at him for a moment, before gasping loudly, effectively startling Levi.

"I've got it!"

He grabbed Levi by his shoulders and yelled at him with excitement.

"Why don't you go to the palace for me!"

"Have you even heard a single word that I just said, stupid?"

"No, no, hear me out! Just say that you're Hanji's- no, Ymir's father! And that your daughter is such a cowardly witch, she's too afraid to show her face! Then maybe Queen Annie will finally give up on me!"

Eren stared at Levi with excited eyes until Levi spoke up.

"This plan sucks…."

Eren, too high on adrenaline and joy, gathered Levi up in a hug and twirled him around.

…Maybe it wasn't too late for Levi to just go back home….

- _End of Chapter 8-_

A/N: I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY I MISSED LAST WEEKS UPDATE! I was sick and wasn't feeling up to typing a whole chapter, but I feel a bit better now so I should be back on the ball. Thank you for all of your lovely comments, and I am so so so SO happy that you guys like this story. This chapter diverged A LOT from the movie, so that was kinda fun. Scenes like the Jean and Levi scene, and the Eren and Levi bonding scene are always fun and keep me on my toes. That's all I can think to say, so I guess I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

Preview: Levi goes to meet the Queen, but it doesn't go like he expects.


	9. Chapter 9

After a long time of convincing, Eren finally got Levi to agree to his plan, and once the raven was clean and dressed, he was ready to go.

Arming watched with confusion as Levi expertly tied his cravat and grabbed the bag he had brought with him on his journey. Once Levi was finished with his cravat, he put on his traveling hat and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

"You're wearing that hat?"

Levi grew annoyed at Eren's nearly appalled tone in reference to his hat.

"Why, what's wrong with it? I'll have you know that I actually like this hat!"

"Yeah, but, even after all the magic I used to make your outfit look nice."

Levi rolled his eyes and muttered, "Like you have room to talk. All you're wearing right now is your bedsheets and slippers."

Before Eren could get another word out, Levi turned to Armin and gave him a hug.

"Levi, where are you going?"

"Don't worry Armin, I'll be fine. You just make sure to hold the fort down until I get back. And," he leaned in close so only Armin could hear. "Make sure you take care of the big baby, alright?"

Armin gave a small laugh, before giving a mock salute and a, "Yes sir!"

The raven looked to Jean a gave him a small wink, as if to say, 'You already know why I'm leaving, but don't tell Armin.'

Jean rolled his eyes, but still managed to give a genuine, "Good luck."

Levi made his way down the stairs leading to the door, and before he could put his hand on the knob, Eren swooped down behind him, causing the small man to gasp.

The wizard got real close and took on of Levi's small hands into his own larger ones. He quickly slipped on a ring with a single red ruby in the center.

Eren seemed to lean in closer than he had been, and softly whispered into Levi's ear. (And no, not in a sexual way ya pervs.)

"This charm will guarantee your safe return."

Ah yes, smooth and suave Eren was finally back.

Levi looked back at Eren with uncertainty in his eyes, and Eren just chuckled.

"Don't worry. I'll follow behind you in disguise."

Levi stared at him for a moment, before nodding in approval.

"Now," Eren said as he swung open the door for the older man. "Off you go."

As soon as Levi was outside, he noticed that he was no longer in Maria nor the wastes, but in the illustrious city of Rose.

' _Now, if the King and Queen reside in the royal city of Sina, why the hell am I in Rose!?'_

Granted, if Levi had his locations correct, he was in the part of Rose that was almost on the border of Sina's southern district. But that still didn't explain why Eren, an _extremely_ powerful wizard, didn't just make his magic doorknob with Sina included.

Suddenly, Levi understood Eren's reasoning behind this.

He assumed that Eren wanted to be far enough away from the palace to not be noticed by the royals, but close enough so that he wasn't completely out of the loop with any of the royal happenings.

' _Huh… That's actually pretty smart. It's kinda like hiding in plain sight.'_

Levi took one last look at the ring Eren gave him, before sighing.

"Why do I feel like this sucky plan won't work?"

With that, he held his head high and began his short walk to the city of Sina. Once in the distinguished city, he continued on his way to the castle.

While he had never so much as even traveled outside of Shinganshina before this whole journey, he knew where he was going.

When he was young and his mother worked as a prostitute, there wasn't much for a young child to do other than go to sleep or pretend that he didn't hear the strange sounds coming from his mother and the strange men she so often 'entertained'. One day, his mother had been able to get her hands on a fairly detailed map of the whole country they lived on. While it was a bit dirty and torn, it was still readable.

Without much else to do, Levi would spend his time studying the map and making note of where all the major cities were in correlation to one another. He hadn't had much use for this small talent until now, and boy did he feel extremely grateful to his mother because Eren wasn't much help with directions (meaning that he hadn't given him any).

As he continued on his walk, not even realizing that he had walked a great distance while lost in his thoughts, a few crows cawing snapped him out of his daze.

He stared up at the tree the crows were in and pondered.

"I wonder what Eren disguised himself as. Surely not a crow…."

He was surprised to see that he was nearly to the center of Sina, where the King and Queen's castle was located. He had always known that Sina was one of the more smaller towns, but he didn't think it was _this_ small.

Despite the fact that his trip would be shorter than he anticipated, he regretted not bringing along his cane. Turnip-head would surely be upset it he found out.

He looked around the bustling city some more before his old eyes spotted some pigeons.

"Can't be a pigeon, he's too flamboyant for that."

Just as he said this, a giggling woman riding on one of those new-fangled solo-flying machines –he believed they were called now called solo-cruisers- scared the pigeons away.

If he remembered correctly, solo-cruisers (A.K.A 'the flying stallions') used to be used by the military as way for solo missions, but they quickly stopped using them as a result of their loud noise. Eventually, they became luxury items for the rich and powerful to use whenever they saw fit. Levi had never actually seen one in person, seeing as how they were only found within the royal city, but Farlen used to talk about them in immense detail.

"That could be him…."

As he continued walking, he could see the castle appear in the distance.

He almost gave a sigh of relief, that is until he remembered that he still had a good distance to go. He would have stopped to take a break, but he was just ready to get this dumb mission over with.

The closer he got to the castle, the more guards he began to see appear. He wasn't surprised, not only was the castle _right there_ , but there were so many rich and noble people around that there had to have been at least one robbery attempt every day.

As he continued walking, ignoring the fact that his attire made him stick out like a sore thumb in the eyes of the nobles, he noticed a little doggie had started to walk up to him.

The dog was a bit fat, but that was to be expected of a noble dog, and he had blonde fur with patches of brown. The blonde fur atop his head, while parted in the middle, almost covered his eyes and it was a wonder if the poor thing could see.

Levi walked past the dog, ignoring the strong urge to pick up the doggie and cuddle him to death, and he thought he heard the dog sniff him as he walked past.

He continued on his way, but he could swear he heard tiny footsteps behind him. When he looked back, he was surprised to see that the dog was following him. As a matter of fact, the dog walked up right next to him and continued walking with the old man as if Levi was his owner.

"E-Eren?" He whispered, only loud enough for the dog to hear him. "D-Did you disguise yourself as an old dog?"

The dog simply gave some sniffing sounds, as if replying to him. His little nose twitched as he did this, and he noticed the brown fur that hung itself over the doggie's mouth. It was almost like he had a cute doggie mustache~.

It was hard, but Levi managed to stop himself from picking that adorable dog right up and making him his own dog. He had to remember, this dog was just Eren in disguise. He had to control himself.

"You couldn't think of something a bit more useful than a cute- I mean, old dog? Do you know how hard it is to do things when you're old?"

Just as he said this, he noticed to blob-men dressed up in suits pulling a carriage up right next to him.

No… it couldn't be….

The black curtain covering the window into the carriage was pulled back to reveal none other than the Witch of the Waste herself.

"Well, well, well, look who's here? The tacky little boy from that tacky little shop."

Levi felt anger boil up inside himself. As much as he wanted to jump through that window and strangle that bitch himself, he had a job to do, and wouldn't let Eren down.

After being seemingly ignored, the Witch scoffed before continuing.

"Thank you for handing my _scorching_ love note to Eren."

Levi didn't reply, he just looked down at the dog walking beside him, only to see that he was giving her one mean side-eye.

"How's he doing, by the way?"

' _The fuck?_ '

"He's acting like a big baby…." He said, straight to the point. "And he's working me to the bone as his janitor."

The Witch chuckled and said, "How delightful!"

As they got closer to the castle, the Witch continued with their conversation.

"So tell me, what business do you have at the palace?"

"Job hunting." He lied. "I'm sick of working for Eren. And what about yourself? Not that I care."

The Witch gained a snarky looked and held up a fancy blood-red fan, fanning herself.

"I received a royal invitation. That idiot Annie _finally_ realized how much she needs my powers and skill."

Levi snarled.

"If you're so great, why don't you break the spell you put on me!?"

"But why?" She laughed. "I was kind enough to make it stay dormant while you sleep?"

Levi gave her a heated blank stare.

"I'm sorry, darling. My talent lies in casting spells, mot breaking them." She said as she smirked.

Right before Levi could give her a few choice words about her _talent_ , the Witch closed her the black curtain with a smug, "Bye, Grandpa."

Levi scoffed, but refrained from chasing after her as the blob-men picked up their pace and left Levi behind. He was already tired from all this walking, so he knew he wouldn't have the energy to catch up to them.

He looked to the dog walking beside him.

"If I didn't have you to worry about, I would have clobbered her." He lied.

He stared angrily as the blob-men carried the Witch into the castle's courtyard. Once they entered the gates, they quickly began dissolving into nothingness. The Witch's carriage was dropped as the blob-men disappeared.

"What on Earth is wrong with you two!?" She cried out while sticking her head out of the window.

"Sorry ma'am!" A soldier said. "Vehicles are prohibited beyond this point! You must continue on foot!"

The Witch scoffed.

"That Annie. Using her magic to force me to climb those God-forsaken stairs."

She sighed and stepped out of the carriage, not before quickly wrapping her signature blood-red scarf around her neck. She slammed the door to the carriage and began walking to the stairs.

"Alright, Eren. We can do this." Levi whispered. "Just act natural."

The dog only made sniffing noises in reply.

Levi and the Witch began climbing the stairs, and Levi was almost keeping step with her until he heard a sniffing sound come behind him.

He turned to see the dog at the bottom of the stairs, looking up expectantly at him.

Levi rolled his eyes and sighed before heading back down the few stairs he had climbed to get the dog. He picked him up with soft grunt, holding him like a baby, before heading back up the stair.

"Eren," he whispered. "Why are you so heavy!?"

Once he had finally caught back up with the Witch, he noticed that she was sweating and fanning herself furiously. Levi realized that it had to be the scarf. It was already a warm day, so he knew that that scarf wasn't making it any better. Not to mention her entirely black dress and hat weren't helping.

To his surprise, the Witch's shaking hand accidentally her fan and she groaned, but she nonetheless kept walking.

"Hey, put that damn dog down and go get my fan!"

Levi gave her a 'Bitch, what!?' look, and said, "Excuse me!?"

"You heard me!" She snapped. "I don't have time to get it, I _need_ to get to this f-fucking meeting!"

Levi could tell she was starting to get out of breath from the heat, and her face was beginning to turn red.

"What was that? You suddenly remembered how to break the spell you put on me?"

She groaned and panted.

"I _fucking_ t-told you, I d-don't know how!"

"Then start studying." He muttered and he turned back around and continued his trek up the stairs.

Now, Levi wasn't one to gloat, but he was happy to find that he had actually passed her, and was nearing the top of the stairs.

Suddenly, the dog's weight came back to him and he decided that his old body could use a break. He gently set the dog down and waited until he had caught his breath. He turned around to see that the Witch was farther down than he expected. It was actually kinda sad to watch….

"W-Why don't you just give up?" He asked.

"Y-You don't know h-how _fucking_ long I w-waited to be invited h-here! Ever since _s-she_ banished me to l-live in the _Wastes_!"

Levi rolled his eyes. If she wasn't smart enough to just stop, or even just take off that dumb scarf, then she would be moving a lot faster and be a lot cooler.

"Well, good luck then." He said sarcastically. "Too bad I'm not younger, or I'd lend you a hand."

He kneeled down to the dog beside him and picked him up, ready to finish the rest of the climb.

"Y-You cold hearted old _bastard._ Next t-time, I'll turn you senile t-too."

Levi didn't bother to look back as he spoke his next words.

" _I'm_ cold hearted!? Well at least I didn't curse someone for _talking to my fucking ex!_ "

He didn't even bother to listen to her reply as he finally finished his trek up the stairs and got to the top step. He carefully put the dog down and took a moment to catch his breath.

He turned back to the Witch and gave her a mocking, "Almost there!"

She just snarled and muttered, "Shut the f-fuck up."

Levi's attention was turned behind him as he heard a deep voice say, "Honored guests, please follow me."

Levi turned to see a tall, built blonde man standing behind him. He had short hair and an almost natural looking angry face.

"You should go help her get up these stairs." He said it a bored tone. It wasn't like he cared, he just wanted this whole process to hurry the fuck up.

"I'm strictly forbidden to offer such assistance."

Levi gave him an 'are you kidding me look'.

"That's so rude! The Queen herself invited her!"

Levi wasn't defending the Witch because he liked her, he just tried to imagine himself in her position and found the escort's lack of help very rude.

The escort said nothing and Levi rolled his eyes. He turned his attention back to the Witch of the Waste.

"Come on, you can do it! Why don't you just take your scarf off. No wonder you're sweating fucking _buckets_. Plus, it would speed this whole process up."

The Witch finally made it up the stairs, still panting from the heat, and just gave Levi and angry "Just shut up," while flipping him the bird.

Levi rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the escort. The brawny man had already begun walking through the giant doors that lead into the castle.

' _Well, here goes nothing….'_

- _End of Chapter 9-_

A/N: Ayyyyyyeeeee, back at it again with the weekly updates! Okay, so I know that last chapter's preview of this chapter I gave off the impression that Levi would actually meet the Queen in this chapter, but this one was getting pretty long and I've got a headache so I'll save it for next chapter. I know it's a terrible excuse, I'm sorry. Next chapter will reveal quite a bit so be ready! I love you guys sooooooo much, and thank you for reading my story!

Preview: Levi and the Witch _finally_ meet with the Queen, but Levi learns that all is not as it appears.


	10. Chapter 10

As Levi walked in with the brawny escort and the still-panting Witch, he couldn't help but notice all of the guard's eyes were on them. He knew that it was because they were 'important' visitors of the Queen, but he still couldn't help but feel uneasy as they all just blankly watched them walk in.

"Would the father of the great witch Ymir, and the Witch of the Waste _please_ continue to follow me?"

Levi barely even noticed that they had begun to lag behind the blonde man, Levi due to his thoughts and the Witch due to her own heat-induced exhaustion.

Levi gave a half-hearted glance to the Witch behind him, and said, "For Pete's sake, pull yourself together. Isn't this what you've been waiting for?"

He would say that he felt a _tiny sliver_ of pity for the woman, but any pity he had for her was lost when she cursed him.

The over-heated woman ignored him and chose to instead fan herself with her hand, despite the fact that it didn't help her very much.

"Everyone, please welcome the Witch of the Waste, and the father of the Great Witch Ymir!"

Levi knew that this was just a formality, but he couldn't help but be a little irritated at the fact that Eren hadn't even given his own alias a last name. Due to this annoying fact, he would forever be referred to as 'the father of the Great Witch Ymir'.

"Ymir? Why does that name sound so familiar? And since when were you old enough to have a daughter?" She whispered.

"Um," Levi said, as he wracked his brain for an excuse. "Ymir is… um, part of the name of my 'tacky little shop'. Y-Yep, I named it after my own daughter which I _am_ old enough to have, mind you. How dare you assume my age."

It hadn't been his best lie, but he had had a long journey and was still a bit worn out from it.

"Is that where it's from?" She muttered, too hot and tired to even question it.

The blonde escort led them into an elegant room with one single chair sitting in the middle. The room had many chandeliers and expensive paintings, so it creeped Levi out that there was only a single chair sitting in the middle of the room.

"Wait in here, please. The Queen will be with you shortly," the escort said as he walked out of the room from the door he just entered and closed it. Levi began to feel worried when he heard the faint sound of the door locking.

He was about to ask the Witch if she noticed anything strange, but she cut him off before he could.

"A chair? It's mine!"

She hurried as fast as she could to the chair and sat in it, taking her black broad-brimmed hat off and using it as a make-shift fan.

Levi rolled his eyes and noticed that he was still carrying 'Eren' around. He gently set the dog down and sighed as he was finally able to stretch out his back.

As soon as he set the dog down, the little rascal started to run down a dimly lit hallway that he hadn't even known was there.

"Eren! Get back here!" He whisper-yelled at the cute little miscreant.

He quickly gave a glance to the Witch, only to find she wasn't paying them any mind, and began to quickly make his way over to where the dog had run.

He walked into the hallway, only to find that it wasn't a hallway at all, it was only a tiny dark room, no bigger than a closet. If 'Eren' had run in here, then where had he disappeared to?

Suddenly, the 'wall' to Levi's right slid open to reveal that it wasn't a wall at all, but some form of secret passageway.

In the passage's doorway stood a young girl with short platinum blonde hair styled in an undercut and bored blue eyes. She gave Levi a kind smile before ushering him into the passageway with her.

"This way please, sir."

Levi didn't know if he should trust this random lady that appeared before him, but he was kinda low on options right now and he needed to find 'Eren', so he followed her into the passage.

Right before the 'wall' slid back into place, Levi could have sworn he saw a bright light flash from the room he was in, along with a shriek from the Witch of the Waste. Before he could question the young woman about what had just happened, she simply began walking to an unknown location, so Levi just followed her in silence.

The young woman led him into a giant tropical looking room with various species of flora growing around. He could have sworn that he even heard some birds chirping inside of the large room.

The blonde girl led him to a woman sitting in a chair beside one of the very large windows that ran all across the walls of the room. There were a few men in black suits that had been talking to the woman, but once they caught sight of Levi and the blonde girl they gave their goodbyes and exited through the door Levi and the girl had entered.

The girl signaled for Levi to give her a moment while she walked over to the woman in the chair and whispered something in her ear, before promptly leaving.

"So," the woman said after she had finished sipping her tea. "You're Eren's father, are you?"

Levi was taken aback.

"E-Excuse me? I-I'm Ymir's- "

"The Great Witch Ymir does not exist. She is just an alias that Eren came up with to try and protect his identity. But you, of course, know this already, correct?"

Levi composed himself before saying, "Y-Yes, but he told me that you only knew him by Ymir."

While still not his best lie, it was better than the one he had come up with before.

The woman, who Levi now recognized as the Queen, gave a dry laugh before setting her drink down on the small table beside her.

"That Eren has always taken me as a fool…. But please, excuse my manners." She said as she finally looked at Levi. "You must be tired. Please, have a seat."

Levi was able to get a good look at her face and took in her features. She was a very short woman with blonde hair that was tied back in a sort of messy bun and stone-cold blue eyes. She was very pale and had a very… _unique_ nose, not that Levi thought it made her look ugly. She was dressed in something that would have been more commonly seen on a male royal, and she didn't seem to fit the impression of a Queen. Many of the citizens had no idea as to what the King and Queen even looked like, so this was Levi's first time seeing her, and to say that he was surprised was an understatement.

"Oh, um, thank you." He said as he sat in the chair directly in front of the Queen.

Levi took his seat, and the Queen gave him a chilling smile.

"I am Madame Leonhart. _Annie_ Leonhart. While you may know me as the Queen, I am also his majesty's head sorceress."

Levi was about to comment before his eyes landed on the doggie lying under the table next to the Queen. The same _doggie_ that had followed him in to the castle.

The dog stared blankly back at him while sniffing the air.

"Th-That's not your dog, is it?"

The Queen gave a short chuckle.

"His name is Mike. He's my errand dog. I had him escort you here."

Levi gave a small sigh at this fact.

' _So you mean to tell me that I lugged that fat dog up here only to find out that it wasn't Eren!? That doggo better be glad he's cute….'_

"I take it Eren won't be joining us today?"

Levi sat up straight at this question.

' _Alright Levi. This is the whole reason you came here. You can't mess this up!'_

"He's such a lazy son, so he sent me instead. I'm afraid you and the King would find him completely useless to your needs."

The Queen leaned forward in her chair, letting her chin rest on the knuckles of her hands.

"Well, I am very sorry to hear that. Eren was the last apprentice I ever took on. I'd never seen such a gifted student."

She leaned back in her chair once more.

"I was so thrilled to have finally found someone talented enough to replace me…."

Levi's mind was whirling with thousands of questions, but he was unable to ask them as Annie continued speaking.

"Then, one day, his heart was stolen by a demon. He never returned to complete his apprenticeship." She said with a sigh. "And, from that day forward, he has been using his magic for entirely _selfish_ reasons."

There was a pregnant silence before Annie spoke once more.

"Mr. _Jaeger_."

Jaeger? Was that Eren's last name?

"Y-Yes?"

"That boy is extremely dangerous. His powers are far too great for someone without a heart. If he stays selfish, I'm afraid he'll end up just like the Witch of the Waste. _Send her in!_ "

Before Levi had time to react, the same platinum-blonde girl from before walked in with a very _young_ and very _scared_ looking Witch of the Waste. The poor thing looked to only be about eleven, and the Queen's servant hadn't even bothered to replace the clothes she came in with, which were now much too big for her small frame. The young girl was struggling to keep her long dress from falling off while also trying to keep up with the quick servant-girl.

Levi gasped as soon as the Witch was brought up to stand beside him, her big black eyes welling up with tears.

"W-What on earth happened to you!?" Levi asked the poor girl, not really expecting an answer from her.

The Witch just looked at him as the tears in her eyes began to overflow and she started crying.

"Are you impressed, Mr. Jaeger? All I did was merely turn her into her true form; a simple spell, really."

"W-What are you talking about!?"

Annie rolled her eyes.

"You see, I used magic to have her turn into what she truly is in her heart, just a scared little girl afraid of her own shadow." She said with a snarl. "It's actually really sad. The once great Witch of the Waste has been reduced to nothing more than a _child."_

"S-So has she always been this young?"

"No, no…. My God, are you really that inept? With all of her magic and power, you'd think that on the inside she was a proud little thing, wouldn't you? But no, I'm actually a little disappointed in what she truly is…."

Levi simply looked back and forth between the Queen and the crying girl standing next to him. It's as if his brain had forgotten how to take in information or form words. All he could do was listen as the Queen spoke.

"Once, she too was a magnificent sorcerer with so much _promise_. But then, she met _Eren_ , and everything changed. She loved him so much that she didn't even notice how her heart began corrupt and greedy. She wanted that boy all to herself, and she would do anything to have him. Eren saw the greed in her heart and tried to break his connections with her, but this tore her up inside. I saw my once promising student turn into nothing but a jealous little girl bent on making Eren hers. What I had failed to notice was that Eren's rejection had turned her into… _this_."

The Witch simply continued crying, muttering " _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"_ over and over again. Levi wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. Her love of Eren? Her defiance of the Queen? The curse she put on him? Levi hadn't the slightest idea, but he didn't exactly have the time to ask her either.

"Oh go on and apologize all you want, _Mikasa,_ but our kingdom can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to disreputable witches and wizards."

Her tone was cold and unforgiving. It was as if she was now speaking to a crying little girl on the cusp of a breakdown.

Annie then returned her attention to Levi, who was doing his best to stop the little girl- Mikasa, was it? - from crying.

"Mr. Jaeger, if Eren reports to me and vows to use his magic to serve the kingdom, I will show him how to break from his demon. If he does not, I will strip him of his powers and turn him what he truly is on the inside just as I did to _her._ And let me tell you Mr. _Jaeger_ , Eren is not a scared child like this incompetent witch here. That boy is a _monster,_ and if you don't believe me then you will when he turns on you just as he has done to countless people- "

"That's enough!" Levi shouted, cutting her off.

Annie, Mikasa, and even Mike stared at him in surprise as he stood up from his chair and gave the Queen a cold glare.

"Now I understand why Eren was so concerned about coming to see you. It's nothing but a trap! You lure people here with an invitation from both you and the King, and then you strip them of all their powers!"

The Queen stared at him with a look of both shock and interest. No one had ever dared to stand up to her as Levi was doing, and she was honestly impressed.

"Eren would _never_ be so heartless! He may be selfish and cowardly, and sometimes he's hard to understand, but his intentions are good! He just wants to be free! Eren would never come here. He doesn't need your help!"

Annie's eyes widened ever-so-slightly as Levi began to _change_ during his speech. He no longer had the appearance of an elderly person, but he now looked like a young man. His hair went from grey to black-while growing slightly- in a matter of seconds, and his once dull-grey eyes turned into a passionate and fiery blue. The now-young man didn't seem to notice as he continued talking.

"He can fix his problem with his demon on his own! I am _certain_ of it!"

Everyone in the room stared at him in shock until the Queen gave him a dark and knowing look.

"Now I understand…. You're in love with Eren."

Levi gasped in shock, his appearance changing back in the blink of an eye, and he gave the Queen an incredulous look.

"W-What what do you mean? I-I'm his f-father, of course I love him!"

The Queen rolled her eyes, appalled that Levi had even attempted to keep up his act after his speech, and Mikasa's eyes began to dry as she looked up to Levi in shock.

The young girl grabbed Levi by his pant leg and looked at him with wide-eyes.

"E-Eren? D-Did you say Eren was coming!?"

Levi looked at her with uncertainty, but Mikasa ignored this.

"I-I need him to come! I want his heart! H-His h-heart belongs t-to me!"

The young girl began sobbing into Levi's pant leg, and Levi his best to put his grudge against her aside and try to calm her down.

"S-Stop that, just calm down." He said as he gently pulled her away from him. "Eren's not coming here, okay?"

Just as he said this, a plane flew over the castle, causing all four occupants of the room to look towards the window-ceiling.

The Queen gave Levi a smug look before saying, "Oh, I think he will. I now know his weakness, _Mr. Jaeger._ "

Levi gulped as she said the last part of her statement with such sarcasm and hate. While he was starting to worry that this whole meeting had gone awry, he did his best to look as brave and unbothered as he possibly could.

But, the sad truth was that on the inside, he was a scared child just like Mikasa….

 _-End of Chapter 10-_

A/N: AHHHHH, I'm sorry I stopped the chapter on what I guess could be called a cliffhanger. I feel like a lot had happened this chapter, so I decided to cut it off before things got too out of control….pls dun hate meh…

Also, can you guys guess who the **buff blonde** escort is, or who the **short platinum-blonde** servant girl is? And can you guys guess who the King is, he appears next chapter. Also, Mike is best doggo.

(On an unrelated note, please go watch a little show called 'Nanalan'. It's a show for babies but I just find it pretty hilarious to watch for some reason. I suggest looking up 'Nanalan Peepo' and 'Nanalan lollipop'. I laughed so hard and I don't even know why. You guys might think I'm a little weird because of this but I have to share this wonder with you… Mkay, bye)

Preview: The King stops by and everything goes to shit….


	11. Chapter 11

The occupants of the room looked to one of the large windows to watch as the plane descended from the sky and landed on the ground. Levi was surprised to find that it wasn't a plane at all, but a solo-cruiser. Levi assumed that this cruiser was set aside for the King's use only.

Without even noticing that she had once more entered the room, Levi saw the short servant girl from earlier stride up to the small, glass door that was almost hidden among the large windows. He watched her as she opened the door for the ever-approaching King, and once he was in the room, Levi couldn't help but be a bit intimidated by his tall stature. The servant girl left the room as quickly as she had entered, all the while saying nothing.

The King was a tan man with coal black hair and a slim physic. He was wearing his traditional military garb and a pair of goggles that sat atop his head. Levi assumed he had been using them while he was flying. His military suit included a holster for his sword, which swung back and forth while he walked.

Annie gave Levi a quick smirk, and while her body language gave off smugness, her eyes had something else in them. She was looking at Levi as if she knew something he didn't, and Levi didn't like the feeling it gave him.

"Your _Majesty_ ," Annie said as she sat up straighter in her chair.

"As you were," the king said, his voice calm and even.

Levi stared at the King warily as he stood in front of the Queen. The older man didn't really know what to expect from him, but due to the fact that he now had a crying Witch of the Waste to look after, he couldn't take any chances by trusting him.

"So then, how are you feeling?" The King asked to Annie.

"I'm _just_ fine Bertolt, thank you."

"Thought I'd drop by, rather than sit through a dull war meeting."

"What an honor," Annie said in a rather sarcastic tone.

' _Does she always speak to her husband like that?'_ Levi thought.

As if the King- Bertolt, was it? - could tell that he had thought of him, the tall man turned around to give Levi and Mikasa a glance.

"Well well, who are your guests?"

Annie's smirk came back once more.

"Why, this is Eren's father, Mr. Jaeger."

"Ah," The King said as he approached Levi. "What an adorable little old man."

Levi couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow and give a small 'tch' out of instinct. Just who did this guy think he was?

' _I'm not adorable….'_ Levi thought bitterly.

Once Bertolt was standing in front of Levi, the elderly man decided to be courteous (this was the _King_ after all) and give a small bow.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Jaeger. While I appreciate the visit on your son's behalf, I've decided not to use magic to win this war."

Levi's eyes widened in surprise at this. While he was very grateful to hear the news, he couldn't help but feel like something was _off._ It was as if this was happening to easily. Before Levi could ponder more about this, the King continued with his spiel.

"We have tried using Madame Leonhart's magic to shield our palace from the enemy's bombs, but the bombs fall on civilian homes instead. That's the problem with magic. Right, my Queen?"

Annie's smirk never faltered.

"You're so eloquent today, Your Majesty. By the way, when did you start referring to me as _Madame Leonhart_? Only my students call me that.

Just as she said that, _an exact copy_ of the King standing before them entered the room from the door Levi had entered from. This King, unlike the one that had just been talking to Annie, looked like he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. The poor man was sweating nervously as he cautiously approached Annie and her guests.

"A-Annie!" Her husband called out as he walked closer. "Thank God I found you! I-I needed your help with th-this new battle plan. I-I like to call it th-the 'Give up and cry' t-tactic."

As the man spoke, Levi looked back and forth between the two identical Kings standing before him. If the man talking to Annie is the King, then who is the man they had just been talking to!?

Bertolt finally noticed his doppelganger standing in front of Levi, but this only made him sweat more.

"U-Um, Annie, i-is that supposed to be a d-double you made of me? I-If so, can he go to the meeting in m-my place?"

Annie carefully stood up from her place in her chair, and gave a wicked smile at the King standing in front of Levi.

"So nice to see you again, _Eren_."

Mikasa looked up from her place of crying, which had unfortunately been Levi's pants, at the mention of Eren's name. Levi could only gap at the copy of the King standing before him. _This_ was the disguise Eren had chosen!?

Bertolt looked just as confused as Levi did, but Annie made no attempt at answering his questions.

"You're looking well, Madame Leonhart." Eren said, finally sounding like himself.

Annie cocked an eyebrow at this.

"A rather weak disguise, Eren. Didn't I teach you better?"

Eren gave a dry chuckle.

"I'm not trying to outwit you," he said with a dark smile.

Before anyone in the room knew it, Eren –who had returned back to his original form- had lunged himself at the royal spouses, but to Levi's surprise he had not lunged at Annie, but at the King.

Said King gasped while Annie quickly jumped in front of him. She pulled out her own sword, which Levi hadn't even noticed she had, and swiftly stopped Eren's attack with it. The two of them stood face-to-face with their swords pushing against one another in an attempt for one of them to overpower the other.

Eren held a smug smile while Annie's smirk had disappeared and was replaced with a look of pure anger.

"You see, _Madame Leonhart_ , you may now know my weakness, but I have _always_ known yours."

"A-Annie!?" Bertolt cried out, unsure of what to do.

"Bertolt," Annie called. "Go get the guards, _now_!"

"No can do, Madame Leonhart. Let's just say that all the guards have been… taken care of~."

Annie growled at him and said, "What did you do?"

Right as she said this, she slid her sword off of his and made an attempt at slicing his neck, only for their swords to collide once more.

Levi couldn't believe how chipper Eren seemed about the whole situation. The man acted as if he was playing a little cat and mouse game with the Queen, while he himself was struggling to keep an eye on the duel while shielding Mikasa from it.

"Oh, nothing really. Just a simple spell I came up with the keep them all frozen for a while. Give or take a few days."

At this, Annie's smirk returned.

"Aw, but isn't it a shame that you couldn't freeze us? I tell ya, that anti-magic spell I put on me and Bertl r _eally_ comes in handy. Especially when dealing with insubordinate little _pricks_ like you."

She removed her sword once more and aimed for his left side, only to be blocked.

"Insubordinate? I kept my oath. I reported to the castle when summoned, didn't I? And boy oh boy, doesn't it just positively suck _balls_ that I know all of your favorite moves? You taught them to me, of course. But, as much fun as this has been, I'll have to stand down."

With that, Eren slowly put his sword down and slid it back in its holster.

"Eren, what are you doing!? She could kill you!" Levi cried out as he covered Mikasa's eyes out of fear of what would happen next.

To his surprise, Annie stood down as well, and Eren looked back at Levi with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, father. She has nothing to gain by killing me."

Annie looked sternly back and forth between Eren and Levi, before sighing softly.

"Unfortunately, he's right."

Her shoulders slumped, and Bertolt put a supportive hand on her shoulder. He thought that his wife was out of options, but he was far from the truth.

"I do not have anything to gain by killing you…. But I have _everything_ to gain by showing this man what you truly are."

A dark magical aura surrounded her right hand, and without warning she reached up and slapped Eren dead across the face.

Levi, Mikasa, and even Bertolt gave out surprised gasps at this. Eren said nothing as he sat there hunched over with his left cheek in his hand. After a moment of silence, Levi tentatively walked over to Eren and put a gentle hand on his back.

"E-Eren?"

A low growl was heard throughout the room, and if Levi hadn't been standing right behind him he would have had no way to know that it was _Eren_ that made that sound.

Levi quickly withdrew his hand as Eren's body began morphing. The lights began to flicker on and off and there was the low, disembodied voices of a choir that got louder by the second.

Levi was beyond confused, and beyond scared. What was happening!? What this some form of curse she had put on Eren!?

Mikasa had begun running towards her, calling his name, but Levi quickly grabbed her and kept her from getting any closer. He had no idea as to what was happening, and even thought the Witch of the Waste was a cruel, heartless woman, she was just a child now, so Levi couldn't just let her get hurt.

The older man watched as Eren's size grew and listened as his growl grew louder, turning into a screech. He felt the ground shake the wizard grew bigger and bigger. To Levi's surprise and utter horror, the brunette got so big that his hunched over back nearly touched the ceiling, which was quite a feat considering that the castle was about 25 feet tall.

The room was very much big enough to fit Eren's new form, but the occupants had to back up so as not to be crushed by that massive monster that the wizard had become. His clothes had long since torn, so all that was left was a naked form, which Levi would have been embarrassed by had it not been for the fact that the whole situation was absolutely terrifying.

Annie's smirk had grown into a wide and deranged smile as she stared at the beast before her. Said beast opened his eyes, which had been previously closed from pain, and stared down at the Queen. Bertolt stood behind his wife in fear, unsure of what her intentions were, while Levi did his best to keep Mikasa a safe distance away.

Just as Bertolt was about to ask his wife why on _Earth_ she decided to turn Eren into a titan _right in their castle_ , Eren let out an ear-shattering, ground-shaking, inhuman scream right in Annie's face. Annie just stared at him with the same smile as her hair and clothes were whipped back and forth.

Annie suddenly turned her attention to Levi and gave a laugh.

"Do you see now _Mr. Jaeger_!? This _man_ is nothing more than a selfish, cold-hearted _beast_!"

Suddenly, Eren turned his enormous, disfigured head towards Levi and Mikasa.

Levi had to take a moment just to take in his face. His eyes were sunken and cold. His mouth was nothing more than sharp teeth. He looked like something right out of a nightmare. Levi wouldn't have thought in a million years that _this_ was Eren. The only thing that made it clear that this was the man he had just been living with was the color of his eyes. They were the same vibrant green they had always been, and they just made him look so familiar.

Without warning, Eren's face grew furious, and he turned back to Annie, who had drawn her sword once more. She was getting dangerously close to Eren, and this seemed to be what Eren wanted. He made an attempt to swing at her, but a magic shield stopped him from doing so.

"What, are you mad because I got your little _boy toy_ into all of this!? Honey, if you didn't want him to find out then you should have never sent him here!"

In blind fury, Eren pounced at Annie with the intention to bite her head off, but this only made Annie all the more happier. She drew her sword and prepared to jump, and Levi knew right away what her intentions were.

Everything was a blur as his body moved on its own. He didn't think about Mikasa, Bertolt, Annie, or even himself. All he could think of was _Eren_.

Before he knew it, he was in front of Eren's large face in an attempt to block Annie's hit. He knew that she was going for his eyes, so he used his arm to shield them. It didn't seem like it would do much, but it was his only option.

In the blink of an eye, right as Annie was about to come down from her jump and make her hit, Eren's large hand came around and pushed Levi out of the way. He ended up pushing Levi towards his left, unintentionally allowing him to in turn block Annie's attack with his elbow. Her sword came down hard on his skin, slicing through his flesh.

He would have been worried about the injury, but he was only concerned with Levi's wellbeing. Now that he was back in control of his own body and not at the will of this forms deranged psyche, he made it his priority to get Levi out of here.

As quick as he could, he picked up Mikasa and held both her and Levi up close to his chest. It was imperative that the two of them suffered as little injury as possible.

Without further warning, he began to stand up at full height. He faintly heard Levi and Bertolt gasp at this, but those sounds were drowned out by the sound of the glass ceiling shattering. He briefly saw Annie cast a shield around Bertolt and herself, all the while cursing like a sailor. Without hesitation, he kicked the glass wall down and bent over so he could put both Levi and Mikasa on the solo-cruiser he had rode in on.

As Levi watched Eren use his magic to start up the cruiser, Mike, the doggie that Levi had completely forgotten about, ran up to them and jumped into the cruiser. The older man was shocked, but he did have time to question it as Eren began speaking in a low, inhuman voice.

"Le-vi. Take – wheel. Go – fast. Castle – in Wastes. I – distract."

"H-How!? I don't know how to get to the Wastes from high up! I-I need to see landmarks a-and towns to remember how to get there!"

"No – worry. Ring – guide – home. Summon – Jean with – heart," said with what Levi assumed was a smile.

Well if that wasn't the cheesiest shit Levi had ever heard, but then again, he was low on options.

"J-Jean?" He said, looking at the ring. The ring Eren gave him began to glow, and light began to shine from it pointing straight ahead.

"Le-vi – gave me – courage. Thank – you."

With that Eren stood up and faced the castle.

"Now…" he said as he put up a fighting stance. "GO!"

He certainly didn't have to tell Levi twice. He looked down at the floor of the cruiser and saw two pedals. He stomped down hard on the one to the right, and the cruiser took off at a speed that made its name seem obsolete. The only problem was that the cruiser was still low to the ground, so Levi pulled the steering wheel all the way down in the hopes that it was cause them to go higher.

This worked, but they were now going straight up. Out of fear that the three of them would fall off, he leveled the steering wheel more so that they weren't going up as steep as before.

Once they were high enough, Levi returned the steering wheel to its normal state, so now the only problem was actually steering it.

He noticed that they were turning to the right, so he quickly turned the wheel to the left to straighten it out. It was a bit wobbly at first, but he quickly figured it out.

He looked back to check on Mikasa and Mike, only to find that she was holding the dog tight and giggling happily.

"Go faster! This is fun!"

Levi rolled his eyes as Mike sniffed in agreement.

The old man looked back at the palace to see what Eren's plan was, only to find him and another monster fighting each other in the wreckage of what once was the room he met the Queen in. What was distinct about this monster was that it was noticeably female with blonde hair.

Levi had no idea as to what in God's name had just happened, but he was determined to get some answered once he got back to the Moving Castle.

- _End of Chapter 11-_

A/N: Guys, I am so sorry for missing last week's update. I thought that I would have time to work on the chapter after church last Sunday, but we had plans that I had completely forgotton about. *Bows at your feet* Please forgive me…

Anyway, this chapter was a freaking pain to write because it is _SO_ hard to write action scenes in a way that make sense. I hope those parts aren't too confusing for you guys. One of the problems with writing is that you can't actually see what's happening, you can only imagine it.

Also, I started school last week and guys I. AM. A SENIORRRRRRRRR! I am at the TOP of the school's hierarchy! Now, I might seem excited, but I actually feel kind of… meh about it. It's been pretty good so far, so I hope it stays like that.

Finally, I just wanted to say that I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH, AND THANK YOU FOR READING!

Preview: Levi and the gang make it back home, and he has a LOT of questions he needs answered.


	12. Chapter 12

On the way home to the castle, Levi had made a promise to himself that he would finally start getting some answers to the questions that he had stored up, but of course, that didn't end up happening.

As soon as he got one foot in, he was nearly knocked over by Armin who had run up to him and gave him a great big hug. Levi couldn't help but hug him back just as tightly. He had missed the blonde boy and was very glad to see him again. Jean was just as excited to see the old man, but he would never admit it.

Just when Levi thought he could get some questions in, Armin had some questions of his own.

"Uhh, I hate to ruin this sweet moment, but… who the hell are those guys?"

Levi swatted Armin upside his head and said, "Don't you fucking curse!"

Armin was about to retort, but he decided that trying to win an argument with Levi was like trying to cheer up Eren when he got into 'drama queen mode', you just couldn't do it.

Levi was about to introduce Mikasa, but when he turned around he found that the girl was clinging hard to his pant leg.

' _I swear, this girl is gonna be the death of my pants_ …'

"Armin, this is Mikasa. Mikasa," He said gently as he squatted so he was on the younger girl's level. "This is Armin. He is a really good friend of Eren's, so I think you will like him."

The girl's eyes widened at the mention of Eren's name, and she ran up to the older blonde boy.

Looking at him with wide eyes, she said, "Y-You know Eren?"

Armin, unsure of what to say, nodded slowly. At this, Mikasa's began to smile widely and jumped up to hug the boy around his neck. Armin blushed and looked to Levi for help.

"What," he chuckled. "From what I've seen you're great with kids."

"No, _Christa_ is great with kids. Armin is not. How'd you find this kid and her dog anyway?"

Levi quickly glanced to Jean, unsure of what to say, and Jean just looked away, whistling.

' _Thanks for nothing, jackass.'_

"W-Well, I stumbled across her on my top secret mission. U-Um, her doggie walked up to me and said- "

"Oh for crying out loud, she's the Witch of the Waste Armin! She's got a curse on her." Jean said, fed up with Levi's sorry excuse of a lie.

This caught Armin off guard and he immediately tried pushing her away from him, but her tight hug was too strong.

" _Th-This_ is the Witch of the Waste!? Levi, how could you let her in here!? Sh-She's the one who cursed you!"

Levi sighed as he picked up his beloved fat doggo and rubbed his head.

"I know, Armin, but she's just a defenseless kid now. Besides, as much as I hate to say it, I should be thanking he. She's the reason I have a fam-… w-why I met you guys."

Armin pretended like he didn't here Levi cut himself off, and smiled.

"Well, I guess you're right. Besides, if it wasn't for you, we'd be drowning in filth by now."

Levi chuckled, but he was cut off when Mike started sniffing loudly, as if saying " _Hey, don't forget about your favorite doggie boi."_

"Oh, and this is Mike. He just walked up to me and started following me around so I guess he's mine now. Apparently he was the Queen's dog, but now he's mine so she can suck it."

Armin just laughed that one off, and returned his attention to Mikasa. Levi was content with just watching the two of them interact, but a wave of exhaustion just rolled over him. He decided that it was time for everyone to go to bed.

' _My questions will just have to wait until morning,'_ he thought as they all laid down for the night.

' _I guess I'll also have to find a way to break it to Jean that I crashed the solo-cruiser into the castle…'_

 _-Line break-_

It was well past midnight when Eren had returned to his castle. He made sure to return to his natural size, but he couldn't do anything about his haggard and in-human appearance. He slowly opened the door, but not before casting an invisibility spell on himself.

Levi didn't need to see him like this….

He crept into the castle, shutting the door behind himself, and trudged past Mikasa and the Queen's dog. He passed by Jean, who was starting to wake up from his footsteps, and stopped in front of a young, sleeping Levi.

His hollow and gaunt eyes softened at the site of the young man. The raven looked to peaceful as he slept, like a child unaware of the dangers and heartaches of life. He had vowed that he wouldn't let Levi see him like this, like a monster, but now Levi knew what he truly was on the inside. The wizard didn't know why, but the thought of this made his chest hurt, so he decided that a nice hot bath would help him to forget how badly his heart ached.

He was surprised when he heard Jean's shocked gasp from behind him.

"Ohhhh, this is bad. You've gone too far you suicidal bastard!"

Eren simply looked at Jean with a blank, tired expression. Jean kept looking from him to Levi with a frightened expression. He almost forgot that Jean could see him even when he was invisible. Eren assumed that the little demon thought his mind had been taken over by his titan's psyche, and that the monster he had become was seconds away from pouncing on the unsuspecting sleeping raven.

Eren almost felt hurt at this thought, but he decided that assumptions weren't something worth being hurt over.

"Shut up, horse-face…" His monotone voice rang out as he turned away from Jean and began walking up the stairs to the bathroom. He was too tired to argue with Jean over his own poor decisions.

Yeah, he could really use a nice, warm bath to clear his head….

 _-Line Break-_

Levi awoke with a start. He could have sworn that he heard growling coming from upstairs, but he had no idea as to what it could have been.

"I wonder if Eren's back home…." He said softly, before gasping at how young his voice sounded.

He looked at his once wrinkled hands, only to find that they were as smooth as they had been since the day he was born. He would have cried from how happy he was, he even saw his hands become blurry as his eyes moistened, but he quickly realized that he didn't have time for this. He need to see if it was Eren making that noise.

Pushing himself up from the mattress he had been sleeping on in the floor, he made his way over to the dinner table in hopes of lighting a match, but he was shocked to see that there was already a lit candle there. He grabbed the candle by its holder, still suspicious of it being lit up, and made his way over to the stairs.

He took one last look towards Mikasa, Mike, and Jean, only to find that they weren't there. He began to feel unsettled as he made his way up the stairs, not even caring about how much noise he was making.

As he got closer to the top, the growling got louder, and the young man began to feel uneasy at the noise.

"Eren? Eren!? Are you up here!?"

The more frightened and uneasy he felt, the fast his legs began to carry him. He stopped running when he realized that he was at Eren's bedroom door.

The growling was so loud that he could barely hear the sound of his heart hammering against his chest.

He hated this. He hated being afraid. He hated being confused. He hated _being alone_.

His shaky hand let go of his nightshirt, which he had been clutching ever since he started walking up the stairs, and carefully reached for the door knob. Once he grabbed it, he stood there for a moment, too afraid to move. What if it wasn't Eren behind this door? What if it was something even more terrifying and monstrous?

It was now that he realized how loud and shaky his breathing had gotten. With what little ounce of bravery he had left, he twisted the knob and swung the door open, ready to face what was on the other side.

As soon as he re-opened his eyes, which he hadn't realized he had closed, the growling stopped. He stared into the dark void that was Eren's room. His trembling hand held the candle into the room so he could see inside.

He quickly realized that this was not Eren's room. It looked like some sort of cave made out of various trinkets. Clutter was hanging from the ceiling, and he couldn't even see the floor what with how much junk was on it.

He took a slow step into the quiet, dark room. Once he was fully inside, the door slammed shut behind him. He gave a not-so-manly shriek that echoed all the way into the long cave.

Before his nerves could get the better of him, he decided that he needed to keep going. He _needed_ to find Eren.

As his legs carried him further into the cave, he just kept reminding himself of that fact.

Yeah, once he found Eren, everything would be okay. Eren would keep him safe. Eren wouldn't let anyone get to him. Eren-

Before he realized it he had found himself standing in front of two separate pathways. He was unsure of which one to venture into until he heard the sound of heavy breathing coming from the pathway on the left.

He decided that this was the way he needed to go, so he slowly walked until he came upon a curled up figure sitting on the floor.

The figure was naked, covered with gashes and blood stains. It was also twitching sporadically. Levi was about to high-tail it when he heard the figured breath deeply.

He tentatively stepped closer to the curled up mass until he was right next to it.

"E-Eren, is that you?" He asked, keeping his voice as steady as he could.

The figured curled even further into itself more, covering its face with its hands.

"A-Are you in pain? Tell me what's going on."

Eren growled, something that Levi couldn't believe was directed at him.

"Go… away…."

Levi stood up straight and looked down at the beast before him.

"No, I'm not going away. I'm going to help break the spell that you're under!"

A loud, rumbling growl from Eren startled the poor boy, but he was not ready to leave Eren yet.

Eren moved his hands until Levi could see one wide, green eye staring right at him. That once calm sea of green was now deranged and angry.

"You… You can't even break your own damn spell! You useless _bitch_ , you can't do anything!"

Levi didn't want to believe that this was Eren speaking to him. He had been called much worse things at his uncle's brothel, but this was the first time words like that stung the way they did. He felt his face heat up as his eyes began to fill with tears.

"B-But you don't understand. I-I _love_ you, Eren!"

He hated the way his voice cracked, hated how pathetic he sounded, and most of all, he hated the way Eren _laughed_ at this.

"How could you _possibly_ know what love is!? And what makes you think I would ever love a hideous _coward_ like you!? Besides… you're too late to do anything for me."

After the wizard had grown to an enormous size, he took off into the dark cave.

As Eren's form faded into the darkness, Levi felt his whole world crumble beneath him.

"Eren!"

- _Line Break-_

The castles shaking caused Levi to bolt up from his sleep. He was breathing heavily as he looked around to find that he was back in the living room, laying on his mattress.

As if trying to reassure himself that he wasn't still asleep, he looked at his hands, only to find that they were still old and wrinkly.

He gave a sigh of relief as he turned his attention to Jean, who had been calling his name since he woke up.

"Woah, Levi, you okay? That looked like a pretty nasty nightmare you were having and- Wait… a-are you crying?"

Levi wiped his face, only to find that his hand came back wet with tears. He quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his nightshirt and pretended that Jean hadn't just caught him crying.

"N-No, I'm fine! I-Is Eren back?"

"Yeah, he went to go take a bath. He looks terrible. You better figure out how to break this spell on us quick! Eren's running out of time!"

Levi didn't even ask what he meant by that, he already had a feeling.

"Why can't you guys just tell me how Eren got cursed in the first place!? Maybe that could give us some clues!"

"I can't tell you the details of the curse and you know it, fella! Now stop yelling, you'll wake up our guests!"

Levi stood up from his mattress and walked up to Jean.

"Do you know what the Queen said? She said that Eren's heart got stolen by a demon. So tell me, demon-boy, what do you know?"

Jean looked away nervously and said, "I-I'm so sorry but that would be confidential information."

Levi rolled his eyes. That dream had worn him out, so he didn't even feel like arguing with Jean. He waved the fire-demon off and went to go sit back down on his mattress. He could feel Jean's eyes burning holes into the back of his head, so he looked at the demon with a dead-panned expression.

"What?"

"N-Nothin'! It's just… Were you dreaming about Eren?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh nothing… You just called out his name, that's all."

Levi blushed and glared at Jean.

"How about you mind your own business?"

Jean scoffed at this.

"Says the guy who was just interrogating me! Let me tell you something, just because you're an old man doesn't give you the right to- "

Levi began to tune Jean out as he laid back down and closed his eyes, intending on getting some more hours of sleep.

Hopefully his dreams wouldn't be as frightening.

 _-End of Chapter Twelve-_

A/N: Sorry for taking almost a month to actually update, guys. I don't know what I did to deserve great readers like you! I know this chapter isn't exactly what I promised, but I'm still pretty proud of it.

All in favor of getting back to the fluffy stuff say I! *Yells out infinite "I's" *

Preview: The guests get settled in and the house needs some renovations.


	13. Chapter 13

Once Levi could see the sun peeking out above the horizon, he decided that he would go on ahead and get up. He had been restless ever since that dream so he figured that if he was going to stay up he might as well do something productive. He got dressed and, ignoring the fact that Eren was still hogging the bathroom, brushed his teeth over the kitchen sink. Jean commented on how gross that was but Levi shot back how gross it was that he never brushed his teeth, leading in to Jean shouting that he didn't even have teeth, also leading into Levi ignoring the little demon and heading outside.

Once he made sure that he would be walking out the door leading to the Wastes and _not_ into the door leading into Sina. Lord knows that if he even attempted to step foot in there again he would probably be taken right back to the Queen to be executed on account of Eren's behavior.

As Levi stepped outside, he gave a calm sigh as he took in the early morning sun. It appeared that the castle was perched atop a cliff on a mountain so high that there was a layer of clouds beneath them with mountains peeking over them.

It was a really beautiful sight that Levi would have enjoyed more if he didn't have so much on his mind. What with all that happened in Sina yesterday, his dreaded curse, and even Eren's own curse, he just couldn't seem to get his thoughts to quiet down.

' _Pfft, and I thought that when you got old you had less to worry about. This is the most worrying I've done in years….'_

He decided that, even if just for today, he would take his mind off of the things bothering him and just relax a bit.

He turned to look back at the castle he had just come out of, only to see that dumb solo-cruiser staring right back at him from its place in the side of Eren's home. The old man sighed.

' _Oh right, that….'_

The sound of something bouncing caught his attention. He turned to see none other than Turnip-Head hopping up next to him. Once the scare-crow was standing beside the man, he stopped bouncing, which was rather unusual.

"Oh, hi Turnip-Head."

The scare-crow just stood there, his drawn-on eyes staring daggers into Levi. The old man sighed as he realized what was going on.

"I'm sorry I didn't say bye to you, dummy. I just knew you'd get all sad and wouldn't want me to go. Do you forgive me?"

The scare-crow simply began bouncing up and down around Levi, so he took this as a yes. Levi smiled as he looked back to the solo-cruiser.

"Welp, this isn't gonna be easy…."

- _Line Break_ -

Once everyone was awake, Levi broke the news to Jean about there being a cruiser in the side of his castle. The fire-demon took it a bit harshly, but after a few melodramatic wails he was fine.

Now, the group had a sturdy rope tied around the cruiser as Armin and Mikasa held onto the other end. Turnip-Head was even helping too, as he had the rope tied around his waist so he could pull on it with the others. Mike, bless his little heart, was doing his best, but the poor thing barely had enough rope in his mouth to be considered helping.

"Okay, we're ready!" Armin called as he got a steady grip on the rope. Mikasa nodded and Mike gave a few sniffs in agreement.

Levi, who was standing in the castle behind the cruiser, gave a thumbs up in return.

"Here we go!" He said as he placed both hands on the tail end of the machine. He began pushing on it as hard as he could while Armin, Mikasa, Turnip-Head, and Mike pulled on the rope as hard as they could.

The flying machine didn't seem to move no matter how hard they pulled or pushed. Levi, growing increasingly more frustrated, gave a groan.

"I.. said... MOVE!"

With that, he gave a mighty kick to the machine, which, in turn, accidently started the thing up again. Levi immediately jumped back when its wings began flapping, kicking up dust and debris everywhere. The machine managed to push itself out of the castle, but not before almost hitting Armin and his crew.

The blonde boy screamed as he and the others ran, hopped in Turnip-Head's case, away from the now murderous machine.

The cruiser stopped once it hit a big rock sticking up out of the ground, causing it to sputter and shake before eventually breaking down.

Levi looked out of the hole in the wall before asking, "Is everyone alright!?"

Armin and Mikasa looked at each other before they both started laughing. Turnip-Head was bouncing up and down in excitement while Mike was running around in circles.

Levi smiled as he shook his head at the group before looking back to the huge hole in the wall. The old man propped his hands on his hips and thought.

"Maybe if I just hang a curtain in here, Eren won't notice."

He couldn't help but burst out laughing himself when Jean shouted up at him.

"LIKE HELL HE WON'T NOTICE YOU OLD KOOK!"

 _-Line Break-_

The group decided that now would be a good time to come in for some brunch. Needless to say, all of them, excluding Mikasa it seemed, was exhausted from that little work out, and would need some food to restore their energy.

Jean, would had gotten full off of the egg shells and grease from Levi's cooking, was hiding between his logs as a certain raven haired girl stared at him while she ate. She never once took her eyes off of him, not even when she scooped up more food from her plate.

She could have been eating anything, Levi decided, and she wouldn't have noticed with how hard she was staring at Jean.

Only when her fork scrapped the bottom of her plate did she look away from the demon.

"Want some more?" Levi asked, nearly finished with his plate as well.

The girl nodded, he dark hair bouncing as she did, and Levi couldn't help but smile. He may have not liked her as an adult, but Levi had to admit that she was pretty cute as a kid, especially when she was wearing some of Armin's clothes that were too small for him.

"Don't feed her!" Jean yelled. "Did you forget that she's the one who cursed you!?"

Levi rolled his eyes.

"Oh she's alright."

"Well that's all fine and dandy but she keeps staring at me. It's freaking me out!"

Mikasa, not at all reacting to what Jean was saying, looked at him with a bored expression before muttering, "What an ugly little fire."

Jean gasped dramatically while Armin and Levi simply snickered.

Levi's attention was take away from his food when he heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Everyone looked up to see none other than Eren descending from the stairs with a pep in his step.

The wizard was dressed in a casual, loose white shirt that was neatly tucked into his black dress pants.

Levi, unsure of what to say after yesterday's events and last night's nightmare, simply stared at the man as he made his way over to the table.

"Master Eren, you're up!" Armin said, the happiness evident in his voice.

Eren gave a bright smile at this and said, "Good morning everyone!"

"Glad you're home," Levi said with a small smile that Eren returned.

"Glad to be home! It's good to be back with my family!"

Levi couldn't help but feel giddy at this remark. It had been so long since he had had anything close to a family, other than Isabel of course.

Armin, glad to see that everything was well, quickly held up Mike so Eren could see.

"Master Eren, we can keep this dog, can't we?"

Eren gave an unsure look at this. He had never been one for animals, so the thought of having one in his house made him a bit uneasy. But, with Levi and Armin giving him such pitiful looks he couldn't say no.

He gave a playful sigh before answering.

"The Witch of the Waste and the Queen's dog at my table? What possessed you to let them in my house, Jean?"

Jean pouted before saying, "I didn't let them in! That old man crashed his plane into _my_ castle!"

At this, Eren gave a hearty laugh, and Levi couldn't help but laugh right along with him at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Ha! That's my Levi! I knew he'd make a great pilot!"

Levi could help but feel flustered over this. Did Eren really mean that? His thoughts turned sour as he realized that the wizard couldn't have possibly meant what Levi thought he meant. As far as Levi knew, Eren hadn't the slightest idea about Levi's curse. To the wizard, Levi was probably just some random old guy that wondered into his house one day. The man was thankfully pulled away from his thoughts by Armin.

"Wait," Armin said. "This is the Queen's dog!? Levi, why didn't you tell me!?"

Levi gave an awkward laugh.

"It's a long story, Armin. I'll tell you when you're older."

Armin huffed, he hated when Eren said that, and he hated it even more when Levi did it.

"Well, I am taller than you. Does that count?" Armin retorted, right before ducking as an egg was hurled at him.

"Watch it blondie."

Eren laughed again as he made his way over to the gaping hole in the wall. Levi smiled as he looked at Mikasa, who had been staring at Eren this entire time, looking like a love-struck kid.

' _Well, I guess she is technically a love-struck kid.'_ Levi thought as he ruffled her hair.

When Eren got to the hole, he saw Turnip-Head staring right back at him.

"Well, looks like we've got another addition to the family."

Levi and Armin looked at each other, neither one willing to correct Eren and say that Turnip-Head had been here the whole time.

Eren propped his hands on his hips as he looked Turnip-Head over.

"Hmm, you've got a nasty spell on you too."

Eren looked back on the group as he said, "Looks like everyone in this family's got problems."

Levi couldn't help but noticed those jade orbs staring right at him. He felt his heart skip a beat as he took into account what Eren had said. Did that mean Eren _knew_ about his curse? Had Jean told him? Did that mean that there was hope for him yet!?

Levi's racing thoughts were drawn to Mikasa as she muttered, "Y-You're so handsome…."

Eren smiled at this as he walked over to Mikasa and ruffled her hair. He turned his attention back to the occupants of the table and tool a breath.

"So, we've got a lot of work to do. We're moving!"

"Moving?" Levi asked as he raised a brow.

"That's good," Armin replied. "I'm sick of being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere!"

Eren rolled his eyes and said, "Queen Annie is hot on our trail, so we're gonna have to hurry."

Armin nearly spit out his food and groaned, "First we've got the Queen's dog, and now she's after us!? Why can't you guys just tell me what happened!? I'm a big boy, I can handle it!"

"Like I said, maybe when you're older," Levi shot back. But, the old man knew that this conversation wasn't over. Eren would have a lot of explaining to do once they got alone.

Eren turned his attention back to Turnip-Head, and said sadly, "I'm afraid your spell is too strong for this move. You're gonna have to stay behind."

"Aw, not Turnip-Head!" Armin cried.

"Don't worry, Armin, Turnip-Head will be just fine. He found us before, he can find us again." Levi said.

Eren clapped his hands together and said, "Alright everybody, let's get to work!"

"Okay, one, don't fucking interrupt me, and two, we're not moving a muscle until everybody in here has eaten."

Eren put his hands up in defense as he laughed.

"Alright, dear, calm down!"

Armin rolled his eyes.

"Geez, you two sound like a married couple."

Another egg was thrown at him, but this time it didn't miss.

 _-Line Break-_

Once everyone had finished eating, Eren and Armin made their way outside to draw a complicated symbol on the ground with a bucket of white paint.

"Alright Jean, move her right here!" He said, pointing to the big symbol on the ground.

Jean complied and the two males hurried inside to finish up the process.

Eren quickly drew the same symbol on the floor of the castle with white chalk. Everything had been moved out of the way so that the symbol could be drawn in the center of the floor, so everyone else stood on the sideline as they watched Eren work.

"There," the wizard said as he finished. "That should do it. Everyone sit tight for a second."

Eren made his way over to Jean and scooped him up in a pan. The fire demon whined as he was picked up.

"Be gentle with me, dumbass!"

Eren rolled his eyes as he carried Jean back over to the symbol and stood on it.

"On my mark."

The wizard held his arm out as wind began whipping all of their clothes and hair back and forth. Without warning, Jean grew to a tremendous size and gave a loud howl. Levi would have been a bit frightened if this wasn't the big baby fire-demon he had grown familiar with. He looked over to Mikasa to make sure she was alright, only to find that she had on that same bored expression she always seemed to wear.

Levi's attention was drawn away from her as the inside of the house began bending and shaking. He watched as the giant hole in the wall was filled up and the house began changing and growing bigger. This went on for a few moments before it all finally stopped.

The old man looked around at the house that looked so familiar. Why, it looked just like his-

"Alright, moving's done. You guys can look around now."

Armin laughed as he and ran to look around the new house. Mikasa and Mike followed right behind him.

"This is great, Master Eren! It's huge!" The blonde exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen to look around.

Levi was about to follow them, just to make sure they were where he thought they were, when he heard the sound of a train going by. He quickly made his way over to a window and looked out just as a puff of black smoke clouded his view of houses and hills.

Levi furrowed his brows in confusion and looked back into their house. This… This had to have been his old house, right? It was in the same location, but it still looked like Eren's house if it got redecorated. He was utterly stunned at how Eren managed to even do this.

"But… This is-"

"Look, Levi, I even added a bathroom since our family seems to keep growing!" Eren said excitedly as he opened the door to the new bathroom, showing Levi.

Before Levi could even verbally express his confusion, Eren interrupted him.

"Come over here Levi," He said as he led the older man to a closed door.

"I added another bedroom too. I think you'll like it." He said with a wink.

Levi couldn't contain his gasp as the wizard opened the door. This was his room. Every single aspect of it was exactly the same. While all the other rooms looked slightly similar to his old home, this _was his room,_ right down to the window he would look out of as he fixed dresses for his uncle.

Levi was so stunned that he didn't even notice how younger he felt, or how young his voice sounded.

"W-Why… Why'd you do this?"

Eren smiled as he took in Levi's youthful face.

"So we'd have a room suited to you… Do you like it?"

Levi simply stared at him in awe.

"Yeah… I like it…."

' _No, I love it.'_

 _-End of Chapter 13-_

A/N: Guys, can I just say that Howl is so hot with black hair, a white shirt, and black pants. I don't care if he's a fictional character, boy look good. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Also, sorry if Levi's curse isn't making since, seeing as how he just turned young for a hot second there, but it's what happened in the movie. If you guys have your own explanation, please tell me!

Preview: Stuff… Yeah my hands are getting tired of typing, sorry.


	14. Chapter 14

After Eren had shown Levi his 'new' room, the wizard decided that it would be best if he gave Levi some alone time. The poor guy had been through so much that it would probably take him awhile to get used to things being semi-normal again. He gently shut the door as he watched Levi stare out the window in awe of what he was seeing.

Eren couldn't help but smile at this.

Levi wasn't sure how long Eren had left him in his room. This whole situation felt like a dream. Was he really back in his old house? His old neighborhood? He had only been gone for about two, maybe even three, weeks, but it felt like decades.

He couldn't help but be reminded of the people he had left behind to go on this journey. Was Isabel okay? How was Farlen holding up? Did either of them or the employees at his shop even notice that he was gone? Did they care? Did Kenny notice? Was his uncle, the only blood relative he had left, even _fazed_ by the fact that his nephew was gone?

It was then that the gravity of his situation finally sunk in. What if they never found a cure for his curse? Would he be stuck like this until the day of his inevitable death? Would he die of old age before he got the courage to tell Eren how he felt about him? And if he were able to tell him, would Eren even feel the same way? Would he feel disgusted that an old man like himself was in love with a man like him!?

Was he… Was he even _in love_ with Eren? He had never felt this way about anyone before, but wasn't it too soon to fell this strongly for another person? Did he just feel admiration for Eren for helping him? What if he thought he loved him, but it was just all in his head? What did it even feel like to be in love with another human being!?

All of these heavy thoughts swarmed around in Levi's head, making his chest feel tight and his stomach churn in knots. What was he even doing here with these people!? Did they even like him, or were they just tolerating him until they cured him and he left!? Jean said it himself that he would only help Levi if he helped him and Eren. Was that all this was!? Just a deal that when fulfilled would result in Levi being kicked out.

The world felt like it was spinning, the room felt too small, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

He was taken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Hey, Levi, come look at this!"

It was Eren. He sounded so… happy to be talking to him. Was it all just an act? A façade that would diminish once their curses were broken? It was no doubt that the sly wizard could lie his way through anything, but could even he keep up an act for this long?

Levi thought back to all the times Eren had spoken with him. All the times Eren had smiled at him. He even thought of the time Eren saved him from being cut in half by the Queen. It all seemed so… genuine.

He wanted to believe that it was genuine, he really did, but every dark part of his mind and heart were telling him that it was fake, fake, fake!

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Levi, did you hear me?"

Levi turned to see the familiar wizard looking at him with concern. He couldn't tell if it was fake or not, and to be honest he didn't want to know.

"U-Um, no sorry. What did you say?"

"Oh, I just wanted to show you something. Are you okay? You've been kinda zoned out." He chuckled. "For a second there, I was worried you were coming down with dementia."

Levi wanted to laugh with Eren, he really did, but he didn't think this was at all funny. He didn't think it was funny that he was stuck in this body. He didn't think it was funny that he couldn't talk about his curse. And he certainly didn't think it was funny that all Eren saw him as was an old man he could laugh at….

"Oh yeah… Us elderly people tend to lose focus. Sorry…."

He hadn't meant for that statement to come out as cold as it did, but he wasn't going to apologize for it either. He didn't give Eren so much as a glance as he walked past him out of his room and into the living room.

Eren was dumbfounded by this. Had he said something wrong? (Ya done messed up A-A-Ron)

He shook it off as he walked with Levi over to the door. He noticed how Jean eyed the both of them as they walked past him. He didn't like how his worried glance changed to annoyance as the demon looked from Levi to Eren. The wizard realized that he must have done something wrong after all.

Once they were at the front door, he pointed to the dial that always sat at the top right corner.

"See that new color? That means there's a new portal. I was hoping that you and I could explore it while the kids are out doing their own exploring." He said with a chuckle.

Levi's blank expression remained unchanged as Eren opened the front door.

Eren noticed this, so he made it his mission to cheer Levi up from whatever was bothering him.

"It's a present for you. Come and see." He said with a smile as he held out his hand for Levi to take.

Levi walked down the stairs leading to the front door, but as he walked out the door he made no attempt at taking Eren's hand.

The wizard was genuinely taken aback by this, not that Levi noticed.

The older man had to hold back his gasp as he walked out into the open field Eren had led him to. It was beautiful no doubt, what with the calm lake and the gorgeous flowers, but he simply couldn't enjoy the view like he wanted to. All of these negative emotions he was feeling made everything else less awe-inspiring.

Out of fear that Levi wouldn't want to take his hand again, Eren cautiously wrapped his arm around Levi's and began walking with him. He made his movements slow in case Levi showed any signs of discomfort.

"It's my secret garden. Do you like it?"

Levi simply nodded without looking at Eren, instead choosing to focus his attention on the scenery.

"Did you use your magic to make this?"

He sounded so disinterested and Eren hated it. What happened to the Levi that hadn't been anywhere and was amazed at practically everything he saw?

"Only a little, just to help the flowers grow."

As they neared the large lake, Levi couldn't help but feel a bit uplifted at the sight. The water was so clear that it reflected the sky above it, making it appear as they were on an island floating in the sky.

The now raven-haired male didn't even notice how much younger and livelier he felt because of this. He let go of Eren's arm in favor of running up to the lake to see it close up. He couldn't help but crack a smile as he looked off into the large expanse of the lake. The beautiful scenery made him forget why he was even upset in the first place.

"This place is gorgeous, Eren!" He exclaimed with as much fervor and emotion as he had had earlier that day. "It's like a dream."

Eren smiled as he saw Levi's display of happiness. He didn't know what that little spell of melancholy was about, but he was glad to have the old Levi back with him.

The wizard had to withhold a gasp as Levi looked back at him with soft eyes. The man before him was young again, for the second time today at that.

' _The spell must be getting weaker… Perhaps it has something to do with Mikasa's magic being taken away.'_

"This place seems so… familiar, but I know I've never been here before. I feel so… at… home…"

His sentence was cut short as he looked directly into the lake in front of him. A trembling hand came up to touch his own face as he stared at his own reflection. He was young again… How was this possible?

All of his thoughts from before came hurled back at him and Eren saw Levi's body visibly tremble.

"Levi, are you alright? I know it's a lot to take in but- "

"This isn't funny…."

The hand that Eren had been reaching out to grab Levi's shoulder with stopped in mid-air.

"W-What?" He said before awkwardly chuckling. "L-Levi, I'm not laughi- "

"I said this isn't funny!" Levi shouted as he turned to face Eren.

Eren was taken aback when he saw the tears streaming down Levi's face.

Levi I- "

"Oh, I get it, this whole situation is so fucking hilarious to you that you just have to taunt me like this! I get it, I'm just some weird, disgusting old man that fell for you, so you feel the need to play cruel pranks on me!"

"Levi, what are you talking about!?"

"I know that's not really me! I know that I'll probably never be 'normal' again! And I know that I can never be with you, but you don't have to be so mean about it! Just fucking turn my reflection back to normal!"

Eren took a tentative step toward Levi, who would have taken a step back if it weren't for the giant lake behind him.

"Levi, I promise that I'm not doing that. I would never try and trick you like that!"

The raven haired male covered his face with his hands as he cried.

"St-Stop lying! I know y-you are- "

He was cut off by a tight hug.

"Levi," Eren whispered. "I care about you so much, and I want to do everything in my power to help you. I have never felt this way before, and I know it feels sudden a-and unreal, but I trust that these are my true feelings for you. I am just as confused about this spell as you are, but I promise that I will do everything in power to help you. I don't care if I never get cured of my curse, all I care about is _you_."

Levi clutched onto Eren's shirt as he sniffled.

"Eren… What are you saying?"

Eren gently grabbed Levi by his shoulders and pulled him away from his body. He looked deeply into Levi's eyes as he spoke.

"Levi, I love you."

The shorter male couldn't help but let a fresh wave of tears wash over his face.

"No, no, you don't." He cried as he shook his head.

Eren took Levi's face into his hands and quickly connected them both with a kiss. Levi was too shocked to move. Was this really happening!?

Before Levi could even wonder what he should be doing in response to this, Eren pulled away and looked at Levi with watery eyes.

"Levi, I know you think that you don't deserve love, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If someone as beautiful as you could ever love a monster like me then there's no doubt that I could love you."

Levi couldn't keep looking at Eren. His face was so genuine and earnest that it made Levi feel guilty for any bad thought he had had towards the kind wizard.

"H-How can you be sure that you love me?" He gave a humorless chuckle. "You barely even know me…."

"That may be true," he said softly before taking Levi's hand in his. "But I suppose we have all the time in the world to get to know each other."

Levi couldn't help but blush at Eren's actions. He had never been treated this way before, it was nice….

"I guess you're right… I'm sorry I snapped at you, I'm just really confused about… everything…."

"It's quite alright, my dear. Just promise me that you'll be more honest about your feelings from here on out, okay?"

Levi nodded and Eren smiled. Though, as much as he wanted to bring up the elephant in the room, he refrained from bringing up Levi's sudden youth again. Suddenly, he got a mischievous idea.

He feigned a sad look as he looked down as the lush green grass.

"Actually, it did kind of hurt my feelings…" He emphasized this by poking out his bottom lip. "But, you can make it up to me by giving me another kiss~"

Levi rolled his eyes and playfully punched Eren's shoulder.

"As if. Just be glad that you got to take my first kiss, dumb-ass."

Eren cocked an eyebrow.

"Your first kiss, huh? So you mean to tell me I tainted your virgin lips?" He said as he puckered his own lips.

Levi couldn't help but laugh.

"Ugh, what's wrong with you?" He said through chuckles.

Eren laughed as well as he took both of Levi's hands in his.

"We all good?"

Levi blushed and smiled.

"Yeah, we're good."

"Excellent! Now, come with me." He offered as he led Levi away from the lake and over the hill directly beside said lake.

As they crossed over the hill, Levi saw a quaint little cottage sitting amongst the beautiful flowers.

"What a cute little cottage" Levi said, enamored with it immediately. He had always dreamed of getting away from the city and moving out into a small cottage in the country, but with his mother's shop he had never had the change to.

"You think so? That was my secret hideaway. I spent a lot of time here by myself when I was young."

Levi looked from the cozy little cottage to the wizard next to him.

"You were alone?"

"My father, who was also wizard, gave me this place as my own private study. Now you can come here whenever you like!" As he spoke, he began to pull Levi along with him towards the cottage. "It'll be great! You can- "

He was cut off when Levi pulled his hand away from his.

Eren looked back at him with surprise.

"What's the matter?" He asked, immediately growing concerned. If he had learned anything from Levi's earlier mood, it was to go on and nip the problem in the bud before it got any worse.

"It's…" The small raven looked down before looking back up with newfound confidence. He had told Eren he was going to start being honest about his feelings, and that was exactly what he was going to do. "You're scaring me. I have this weird feeling that you're going to leave."

Eren just looked at him with surprise. The raven haired male took Eren's larger hands into his own smaller ones and looked at him expectantly.

"Eren, tell me what's going on. Let's be honest together. Please, I don't care if you're a monster."

The wizard smiled warmly at this before cupping Levi's cheek with his hand.

"I'm just setting things up so that all of you can live comfortably."

Eren gave a content, happy sigh before looking around.

"With all the flowers you've got in this valley, you could easily open up a flower shop." He suggested, before looking at Levi expectantly. "Right? I'm sure you'd be great at it!"

As hard as Eren was trying to change the subject, Levi wasn't about to let his question be avoided to easily.

"So you are going away…." He said, looking down sadly, before looking up at Eren with an expectant look. "Please, Eren, I know I can be of help to you! I want to make sure that you won't regret choosing me! Even if I'm not as attractive as any girl you could easily get, and all I'm good at is cleaning…."

"Levi! Levi, you're beautiful!"

Just as the wizard said this, Levi's age began changing once more until he was an elderly man yet again.

The old man gave a dry chuckle before saying, "Well, the nice thing about being old is you've got nothing much to lose."

Eren gave him a firm look, as if silently saying that Levi was wrong, before something off in the distance caught his attention. He motioned for Levi to stay quiet as he listened for the noise again.

Just as he thought, a distant metallic noise was heard in the far distance, but it was quickly getting closer.

A wisp of fog cleared, and a low flying battleship could be seen.

"What is that thing doing out here?" Eren said lowly.

"A battleship?"

"Still looking for more cities to burn…." The wizard said darkly.

"Is it the enemy's or one of ours"

"What difference does it make?"

Just as he said this, Eren looked from the battleship to the small little hut that they had come in from – or at least, that's where Levi thought he was looking. To his surprise, another large battleship came flying just inched above said hut.

"Those stupid murders." Eren said in disgust as he held Levi close.

The battleship flew a few yards away from them as it passed the two males completely. As it flew by, Eren could see the hundreds of bombs just waiting to be dropped hanging underneath the ship.

"We can't just let them fly off with those bombs."

After he said this, Eren raised his hand, and what Levi could only assume was magical energy engulfed the wizard's hand. He swiftly waved it in the air, and within the ship, the wiring began to malfunction. This caused the battleship to stop flying completely as it slowly began to fall. The sound of an emergency alarm and men shouting could be heard from within the ship as it began to come down.

Levi looked worriedly from the ship to Eren, whose hand was now shaking from the strain the magic had but on him. Eren quickly brought his arm down and hid it before Levi could notice the hot steam that began pouring from it.

"What's happening? What did you do?" Levi asked as he frantically looked from Eren to the falling battleship.

"Just messed with it. It won't crash though" Eren said casually.

"Well it sure as hell looks like it's gonna- oh!" He exclaimed as he finally saw Eren's steam covered hand that was still shaking. "E-Eren?"

"Uh-oh, here they come." The wizard noted, complete ignoring Levi's shock.

Levi looked up at the malfunctioning ship, only to see that they were letting loose some sort of flying creatures. The creatures almost looked like a variation of what Levi could only call Eren's 'monster form', but they obviously didn't look exactly alike. They had small bodies with big heads and bulging eyes and big noses. They certainly didn't look very intelligent, but as soon as they caught sight of Eren and Levi, they were heading right towards them.

Levi stared at those things in shock as Eren spoke calmly.

"Those things are Annie's henchmen. Let's go."

The wizard quickly wrapped his arm around Levi waste before taking off at break-neck speed toward the direction of the hut they came in from.

"Faster! We need to take off, just like before!"

Before Levi knew it he was being dragged mid-air across the beautiful landscape he had just been admiring. He looked up at Eren as he screamed for dear life, noticing that both the wizard's arms were steaming now, and the hands wrapped around his own wrists – which were keeping him from falling- were very hot to the touch.

This was almost like the time Eren had taken him across town to Isabel's bakery, but instead of it being a leisurely stroll he was fearing for his life!

As they approached the hut, Levi looked behind them, and sure enough those things were still after them.

"All right, you're going in!" Eren said as he began to let Levi go.

"N-NO! DON'T LET GO!"

But, Eren did let go, leaving Levi to freefall towards the hut.

Welp, this was it. This was the end of Levi. So much for finding a cure for his curse and marrying Eren. All of that was pointless now. Goodbye, cruel world.

"With mY LAST BREATH I CURSE KENNNYYYYY! AH!"

His dying wish was cut off by the door of the hut opening and him being magically flung inside, the door slamming closed behind him.

As he helplessly lay on the steps inside the house, his only thought was 'Am I dead? Is this what sweet death feels like? Because death hurts more than I thought it would….'

He realized he was still alive when he heard Jean call out to him worriedly from his fireplace. So much for the sweet embrace of death….

Just as he was about to pick himself up, Armin, Mikasa, and Mike came running in through the yellow labeled portal. The blonde boy would have nearly ran right over Levi if it weren't for Mikasa calling out the elderly man's name in confusion.

"L-Levi!? What happened!?"

"Uggggghhh, I'm too old to be treated like this!"

Mikasa and Armin helped the poor man up before Levi hissed in pain as they grabbed his wrists. Armin curiously slid Levi's sleeves up so he could check out his arms. The boy gasped as he showed Levi his own wrists.

There were two burn marks in the shape of handprints around the older man's wrists, causing both Levi and Mikasa to gasp when they saw them.

"Levi, are you okay!? What happened!? Was it Eren!? Did he-"

Levi quickly shushed him before recounting the whole story to him. Armin sighed in worry and sadness.

"I should've seen this coming. He's been over doing it with is powers lately. Come on, Levi, why don't you go sit on the couch while I get something for your burns?"

Levi simply nodded despite the fact that he was still very much confused. Armin helped Levi over to the couch and Mikasa sat down next to him, looking up at the older man worriedly. Mike hopped up on the couch and sat in Levi's lap. The old dog began sniffing furiously, as if saying he was sorry that Levi got hurt. Levi smiled and petted the doggo.

"You old fart, I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" Mikasa asked quietly, looking up at him with big, black eyes.

The older man gently pulled her close and gave her a reassuring hug.

"Geez, you guys need to stop worrying so much. Takes a lot more than a few burns to get to these old bones" He said, despite the fact that his burns felt as if they were throbbing they hurt so much.

"I know… but you were laying on the stairs when we came in."

"Don't worry, sweetie. I already told you, Eren was just trying to help me."

Jean decided to chime in.

"Yeah well, I'm still gonna give that suicidal bastard a stern talking to when he gets back! No one flings around my old coot!"

Levi rolled his eyes and said, "One more word and I'll dump a bucket of ice-water on you, fire-boy."

Just as he said this, Armin came back with some ointment and a spell book.

"Don't worry Levi! I've been practicing my spells, and I know one that will clear your burns right up!"

The blonde gently took Levi's wrists and put the ointment on them, careful not to rub them too hard. He then began flipping through his spell book until he found the spell he was looking for.

He quickly sat the book in his lap before rubbing his hands together.

"Ready Levi?"

"As I'll ever be."

Armin held his hands over Levi's wrists before closing his eyes in concentration. The blonde's hands began to glow with magical energy as the boy quietly muttered a spell in a language Levi didn't understand.

The older man watched as the young wizard's magic began to take effect. The burns had begun healing, although very, very slowly. The blonde ended up having to stop due to the strain the spell was putting on him.

Arming opened his eyes expectantly, only to be discouraged when Levi's hands had only barely been healed.

"I-I'm really sorry Levi," He said, trying to catch his breath.

"It's okay Armin, at least you tried. And hey, my hands do hurt a bit less."

Armin smiled at this.

"R-Really! This means I'm getting better! H-Here, I'll go get you some cold water for your burns."

Levi smiled at this and Jean slowly shook his 'head'.

"Poor kid, at least he's getting better though. You shoulda seen it when he tried to magically clean the place up. He only ended up making it worse!"

Levi chuckled as Armin came back with the water.

As Levi dipped his hands in the cold water, he let out a content sigh as the pain on his arms began to fade.

"Thank you Armin. Though I still don't quite understand how Eren burned my hands."

Armin gave Jean an unsure look, before sighing and sitting next to Levi and Mikasa on the couch.

"Levi, I think it's about time that you know a little more about Eren's curse…."

 _-End of Chapter 14-_

A/N: HELLO MY LOVELY READERS! LOL, sorry not sorry that I left you guys on that cliff hanger. But, I am really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. School is whack, but so is crack (I don't even know anymore guys, sorry for my stupidity?) Anywho, hoped you enjoyed this update and that you don't hate me too much. BYYYYYEE

Preview: Some things about Eren are finally revealed to Levi! (FINALLLLYYYY)


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay," Levi said as he tried desperately to process the information Armin had just given him. "so, you're telling me that one day, just out of the blue, Eren turned into a 'titan' and that's why his steamy hot hands burned me today?"

Armin was nervously looking between Levi and Jean as if he was silently asking for Jean to help him fabricate a story.

"Y-Yup, that's exactly what happened!"

Jean rolled his eyes but didn't say a word while Levi cocked an eyebrow.

"Armin, you know I wasn't born yesterday, right?"

Armin finally caved in and sighed, holding his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry Levi, b-but I don't exactly feel comfortable telling you Eren's story… I-It's not my place!"

"Armin, you are _literally_ the one that suggested telling it to me!"

The young blonde groaned in frustration.

"I know, I know, but I'm regretting my life choices, okay!? B-Besides, I just realized that Eren would probably kill me for telling you!"

Levi stood up in irritation. "Is it really that big of a deal for me to know about this!? I'm apart of this family too so I deserve to know!"

Armin was about to say something, but Levi cut him off.

"Besides, I'm you're elder so you _have_ to listen to me!"

The blonde boy looked like a deer caught in headlights as he frantically tried to think of something to say.

"I-I-I-I… I don't know, a-ask- "He looked from Levi to Jean before pointing an accusing finger at the fire demon. "Ask him! H-He told me not to tell you!"

"What!? How dare you pin this on me you little snot!"

"Armin," Levi said sternly. "Are you lying again?"

"N-No! I'm being serious! H-He totally gave me the death glare when I said I would tell you!"

"Th-That is not true! L-Levi, you seriously don't believe this little liar, r-right? B-Buddy? P-Pal?"

Levi glared at Jean as Mikasa finally spoke up.

"Ari is telling the truth, Levy! I saw that ugly little fire give him a dirty look!"

Everyone in the room looked to Mikasa (Well, everyone except for Mike, who was too busy napping on Mikasa's lap to care).

"Ari? You mean Armin?"

The little girl nodded in agreement.

"That's his nickname! And yours is Levy!"

Levi was about to object to that nickname when Armin nervously called out.

"Th-That's not the important thing here, people! Did we all forget that Jean has been manipulating me, a poor, innocent orphan boy!?" He cried, batting his long eyelashes for emphasis.

"Oh, like you have the right to say anything about manipulation! Don't you see what he's doing, Levi!? He's playing with your emotions to get on your good side!" Jean protested.

"Alright, that is enough!" Levi shouted, slamming his hands down on the small living room table, something he regretted instantly as pain shot up the burns on his arms.

Despite this Levi didn't let the pain faze him.

"Mikasa, Armin, I want both of you to go to your rooms and get ready for bed. If I come up there and you two are not in pajama's you will both be grounded for life!"

He hated yelling at them, especially Mikasa who hadn't done anything wrong, but he was just so tired of being left in the dark and this argument was getting him nowhere.

"You're not the boss of us!" the two kids said in unison.

Levi simply crossed his arms, before speaking in a low and dangerous voice.

"One…"

Armin and Mikasa looked at each other in fear.

"W-Why is he counting?"

"I-I don't know…"

"Two…"

The two of them began to slowly make their way to the stairs, their eyes never tearing away from Levi's. Mike was now fully awake and gingerly following behind the two.

"How high do you think he'll count?"

"I don't know but he's scaring me…."

"Two _and_ _ **a half**_ …."

The three amigos simply stood at the top of the stairs, half wondering what would happen if they stayed and half wanting to run for the hills.

"Don't you make me say _**three**_!"

They decided that they really _didn't_ want to know what happened when he got to three, so they ran off as quickly as they could to their respective bedrooms (Mikasa getting her own when the house was expanded) and locked the doors.

Levi let out an exasperated sigh of relief as he flopped back down on the couch, Jean staring at his warily.

The silence in the room was deafening, save for the crackle of Jean sitting in the fireplace. The little fire demon was honestly afraid to speak up after Levi's angered outburst. The man might have been old, but he sure was terrifying when he wanted to be.

After thinking it over a bit, Jean decided to speak up.

"U-Um, I'm sorry about not telling you about Eren a-and stuff…."

Levi, who was sitting with his head in his hands, didn't answer back immediately, so Jean decided to continue.

"I admit, I did tell the kid not to tell you, b-but only for his own good! The last time he let it slip to someone about what happened, the poor guy got dumped by his girlfriend! And boy oh boy didn't Eren get mad when he found out that it was Armin who told her. He summoned the Spirits of Darkness and didn't come out of his room for a month. The kid felt real bad about it, but he got over it and so did that hot-headed bastard. After that, Eren made us swear to not tell another soul no matter what! I guess after being so concerned over you he forgot…."

The elderly man still hadn't said anything, and that got Jean even more worried.

"I-I understand if you're still mad, but there's nothing we can do… M-Maybe I can convince Eren to tell ya! I-I mean he'll probably say no, but- "

Levi standing up cut him off. The older man walked until he was standing in front of the fireplace, and crouched down until he was at eyelevel with Jean.

"I'm really sorry I got mad… I shouldn't have over reacted as much as I did…" Levi said in a soft voice. "It's just… I want you guys to stop treating me like I'm an outsider. Like… if you make one wrong move I'll just leave."

Jean gave a dry chuckle, and sensing that someone else was listening in on their conversation, he spoke in a hushed tone too.

"You have no idea how many people want to be with that prick until they find out all the nasty parts. But, you're different… How come?"

Levi gave his own dry chuckle.

"Because I'm desperate? I don't know." He said as he looked away.

"Nahhh, I think it's more than that. All those people that came here to be with Eren, they were sheltered and shallow. Like the last one, Rico was it? She was here for all of two days before she hit the road. Now there's some rumor that Eren 'stole her heart' or some bull-crap like that. But you, you've seen some shit, I can tell."

Levi rolled his eyes before taking a deep breath.

"You… you really wanna know?"

"Hey, you tell me your secret, I'll tell you one of mine." Jean said jokingly with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Levi giggle slightly before pulling his knees up to his chest and looking at the ground.

"M-My mom was a prostitute… She did some... questionable things and had a lot of bad things happen to her, and I just so happened to be there to see it all happen… It was horrible, living in a brothel, but I guess I can at least say that it made me… stronger, I suppose? That's why I hate the fact that you guys act as if you can't tell me anything! If I haven't left by now then, I'm not going to leave, no matter what! Even if I don't like what you tell me, it's not like it will change my opinion of Eren. I already know what he can… become, but that doesn't make him a monster! I've seen real monsters with my own eyes at that brothel, and Eren is nowhere near as bad as they are! I just… I want to help you guys. I'm so tired of being so useless and watching from the side-lines! So… please, let me help you…."

The room was silent for a good minute before Jean spoke up again.

"Alright… I'll tell you…."

- _Line Break_ -

Armin had already changed into his pajamas, but he'd be damned if he even attempted to leave his room without Levi saying he could. That man was a force to be reckoned with, and he was not about to die at the hands of an old man.

The sound of light footsteps cut off his train of thought. They were too soft to be Levi's, so they had to have been…

"Mikasa!" He whisper-yelled as he hurried over to his closed door and silently opened it, still fearing what Levi would do if he found out he was leaving his room without permission.

He looked out into the dark hallway and saw Mikasa listening intently to the conversation going on down the stairs.

He frantically waved his hands to get he attention, and once he did he mouthed to her to go back to her room. She shook her head no and motioned for him to join her.

He silently groaned and tip-toed over to her.

"Mikasa, we're going to get in trouble," he whispered harshly.

She silently shushed the blonde boy and continued to listen to Levi and Jean's conversation.

Armin sighed and decided he might as well do the same.

"It's just… I want you guys to stop treating me like I'm an outsider. Like… if you make one wrong move I'll just leave." They heard Levi say from down the stairs. Armin and Mikasa looked at each other worriedly as they continued to listen.

It was hard to hear the rest of the conversation, considering that both Levi and Jean were speaking lowly, but the two kids got the gist of the conversation.

Armin had never realized how bad Levi had it before he got here. The blonde child hated the fact that he had just started an argument with Jean when Levi was obviously hurting, both physically and mentally.

"Alright… I'll tell you…."

Both Mikasa and Armin's jaws dropped when they heard Jean say this.

' _Oh man, if Eren finds out, he is going to kill us, and I do not want to be a part of the carnage!'_

He quickly took Mikasa's wrist, and the raven girl wanted to protest, but out of fear of being caught while spying she kept quiet. Armin led her to her room and said, "Not a word about this to anyone, understand? They cannot know that we heard them!"

She rolled her eyes before nodding. Armin gave her a thumbs up before closing her door and hurrying to his own room. He quickly shut the door and sighed. His relief was short-lived when he heard footsteps heading up the stairs. _Those_ were definitely Levi's footsteps.

He hurried to his bed and jumped in, hiding under the covers and feigning sleep. He heard his door open, so he started fake snoring.

The room was silent for a moment before he heard Levi walk over to his bed. He began panicking until he felt a gentle hand ruffle his hair. Before he could process what was happening, a gentle kiss was place on his head, and the one who had kissed him whispered a loving "Goodnight."

Levi promptly left the room, closing the door in the process.

Armin immediately sat up and rubbed the spot Levi had kissed. Eren had never given him a goodnight kiss before…. It was nice….

The blonde looked at the door Levi had just closed. He gathered his courage before getting out of bed and heading to Levi's room.

- _Line Break_ -

Levi sighed as he sat at the workspace in his room. All that Jean had told him was a lot to process, but it was oddly relaxing to finally be out of the dark. His wrists still hurt like hell, though, so he decided to put some more ointment on them and wrap them up in some bandages.

Now, Levi was no doctor, so he wasn't sure if he was doing any of this correctly, but it would have to do until Eren got back and healed his wounds.

His thoughts drifted back to the wizard and what had happened earlier that day. He blushed at the thought of Eren confessing his love for him, but that giddiness was immediately replaced with worry at the thought of Eren being off alone doing God knows what.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a knock at his bedroom door.

"Come in." He said quietly as he wrapped his burns.

Armin stood in the doorway shyly with Mike, whom Armin had stolen from Mikasa as support, at his side.

"U-Um, goodnight Levi…."

Levi smiled softly.

"Goodnight, Armin. Hey, I'm really sorry about earlier. I guess I just get so worried over you guys and Eren that I don't know what to do with myself. I guess I just feel that the more information I have, the more helpful I can be. But, I was just being a nuisance, I suppose. I'm sorry."

"N-no, you weren't being a nuisance! A-And, I'm sorry too. I wasn't helping the situation out any by ratting on Jean…."

"Don't worry Armin, Jean'll get over it. Now, go get some rest, it's been a long day."

Arming nodded, a faint blush on his cheeks. He was about to close Levi's door when he thought came to him.

"Oh, and don't worry about Master Eren. Sometimes he like to go away for days on end."

Levi gave a tender smile.

"Thank you, Armin. That's good to know." He said with a chuckle.

Armin nodded again and began to fidget, still not budging from the doorway.

"Is there anything else, Armin?" Levi asked curiously.

"U-Um…. C-Could – Could you tuck me in?" He asked shyly, looking at his feet.

Levi grinned and stood up from his seat.

"Sure, Ari."

Armin beamed.

"And – And maybe I could get another good night kiss?" He said bashfully.

Levi playfully patted his head.

"You mean to tell me you were awake for that?"

- _Line Break_ -

After tucking Armin in, Levi made his way over to Mikasa's room. The young girl was half awake by the time he got there, but he still made sure to properly apologize like he did to Armin and tucked her in.

"Do you need anything? A glass of water or something?"

"No, I'm fine Levy. Thank you." She said in a slurred, tired voice.

Levi couldn't help but smile as he placed a kiss on top of her head.

"Okay. Well, good night then." He said as he made his way over to the door.

"You're in love~" Mikasa whispered from behind him.

This made Levi stop in his tracks before he turned to face the little girl.

Mikasa was smiling at him with sleepy eyes as she absent-mindedly pet Mike, who had fallen asleep on top of her.

"Don't deny it! You've been sighing ever since I've been here."

Levi couldn't help but sigh once more as he made his way back over to Mikasa's bed. He sat down on the edge of it, but he couldn't bring himself to look at the young girl.

She smiled even wider and said, "Hmmm, just as I thought."

Levi gave a chuckle before taking a shot in the dark.

"have you ever been in love before?"

He didn't really expect Mikasa to have any memories of her older-self, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

She closed her eyes and rolled over to her side to get a better look at Levi, almost dropping Mike in the process.

"Of course I have. I'm still in love." She said with a blush and a sly smile.

Levi gasped. Perhaps she did remember, even if she didn't realize it.

"Strapping young men are so difficult to deal with, aren't they? But I just adore their hearts~!"

Levi rolled his eyes. Yup, this was certainly the old Witch of the Waste he was talking to.

"You're terrible." He said, rolling his eyes.

It didn't feel like he was talking to a little girl anymore. Despite her young and sleepy appearance, it was as if she had never changed. There was something about her voice that now sounded so adult and mature than it had just a second ago.

Mikasa giggled.

"And they're so cute too!"

The sound of a siren in the distance stopped Levi from commenting on Mikasa's last statement.

"What was that?" He asked, not really expecting Mikasa to answer.

"It's an air raid siren." The young girl said with a yawn, balling up her hand into a fist and rubbing her eyes with it.

"Air raid?" Levi asked, looking out the window.

Mikasa gave him a sleepy smile.

"It's a long way off. But you'd better not go outside tonight, dear~." She said with a giggle.

Levi rolled his eyes as Mikasa continued mindlessly talking.

"I'm sure Leonhart's henchmen are looking everywhere for this place."

The young girl who had suddenly been talking like a grown woman, finally closed her eyes. When she began to speak again, Levi noted how her voice went back sounding like that of a little girl's.

"He may be an ugly little fire, but he's still a good little fire… He keeps our house so well hidden from the baddies…." She mumbled as she finally drifted off to sleep.

Levi let out a playful sigh and gently ruffled Mikasa's hair.

"What am I gonna do with you, little witchy?"

As much as the older man wanted to be mad at Mikasa for cursing him, he didn't have it in him to have any ill-will towards her. In fact, if it had not been for her, he would have never met Armin, Jean, Eren, Mike, or even Turnip-Head. The former raven smiled and gave her another kiss on the forehead.

As he did this, he whispered a small, "I forgive you," before leaving the room and heading off to his own.

- _End of Chapter 15_ -

A/N: Guess who's back, back again, the Booty's back, tell a friend.

Lol, Jk Jk, but seriously it feels so good to be back, guys! I have finally come out of my dark cave to bring you guys another chapter full of fluff, so Merry Christmas. Oh wait, that's right, Christmas is over… Well, Happy New Year! Oh… That's over too… Huh… WELL HAPPY FREAKIN' THURSDAY, I dOn'T kNoW…

Seriously though, I'm sorry for the really long wait guys, but I feel so ready to continue this fic so YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyYyYyYyYyYyYyY!

Anyway, love you guys lots and lots, BYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEE~~~!


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